Helen of Troy Page #5

. . .or do you need the cowardice

of numbers to make you bold?

Go home and search your hearts,

Trojans. . .

. . .for all this must be answered soon.

-You can leave safely now.

-Without you?

l've gained a victory of a sort tonight.

l mustn't lose it, Helen.

There's no Pelagos if l'm there alone.

But there's always one island

where the storm can't touch us.

lt's anyplace, Paris,

where we're together.

-Here?

-Oh, yes, even here.

News reached Troy

that the Greeks were about to sail...

... with the mightiest armada ever known

to man. The Trojans prepared for war.

Our signals have never warned

of so many ships.

-That's all right. We're ready.

-Hundreds.

-Many more than we can count.

-Five, 600. More.

-No less than 1 000 ships.

-We'll make them pay a heavy price.

What shall we pay?

Aeneas, bring them here. Let them see.

Yes, sire.

Faster. Faster.

-See what you have brought upon us?

-Father.

The face that launched 1 000 ships.

Now remember, these Trojan walls

are our strength and our substance. . .

. . .so let no eager fool

attempt to charge this plain. . .

. . .until these ramparts

have served their purpose.

Well, to your posts.

Hector, where is my place?

Beside your Spartan woman.

Come with me, brother.

l'll share Spartan blood with you.

You can have my share.

No Trojans to greet us?

l had hoped they'd be foolish enough

to scatter their forces.

-Where do we make camp, Agamemnon?

-Camp? No, onwards.

Every moment of delay,

my Helen suffers.

Our camp is the Trojan palace.

We must attack at once.

Against Troy's walls, Achilles? No.

We must equip to take this fortress.

Ulysses is right. We must prepare.

The canny counsel of Ulysses prevailed.

The Greeks consolidated their beachhead

and built machines for attack...

...on a scale big enough

to match the Trojan walls.

Follow Achilles!

Hector.

-To the ramps. Back!

-We're outflanked! Fall back!

Return to your towers.

To the ramps. Back!

Back!

Polydorus.

lt's a good war, Paris.

Hector, the man of peace. . .

. . .now our greatest warrior.

Thank Helen for your destiny.

-Thank Paris.

-l thank him for my life.

Oh, great Zeus, king of all. . .

. . .we give to you Polydorus,

Prince of Troy.

l pray you, judge him

with compassion and understanding.

Let not Athena's hatred feed

on my defenseless son. . .

. . .but on our sorrow here.

We, the living dead of Troy,

shall pay his debt. . .

. . .in the years of siege to come.

And the Greeks did prepare

for years of siege.

They unloaded provisions

from their ships...

...and as time went on

they looted and raped...

... the small surrounding villages.

Take your hands off her!

-A warrior commanding his commander?

-She's mine.

Great as you are, l'm still your chieftain,

protector of all the spoils of war.

-Take her to my quarters.

-No.

Agamemnon, if you take this girl,

l shall sail home.

-Then fly, mighty warrior. Fly.

-Agamemnon!

-He didn't mean that, Achilles. Come on.

-Sail home, great warrior.

No, Achilles.

Out! Out! Out!

Achilles, Agamemnon does not

speak for all our people.

Dogs! Jackals!

l'll never fight his battles again.

But for Greece, you'll fight.

No more.

During these years of stalemate,

the Trojans...

...from the safety of their walls,

constantly harassed the invaders...

... with night raids on their camps.

-Helen, how perfect.

-The girl you fell in love with?

Always keep that image with you, Paris.

l shan't need to.

l have the source of its magic.

Right here, l hold its living warmth. . .

. . .and its spirit is always

with me on the ramparts.

Then it can't be lost, can it?

What has been lived

and shared is never lost.

-Never, Helen.

-But if you should lose me. . .

. . .could you resign yourself to that?

Don't worry, nothing will happen to you.

Nothing endures on Earth, Paris,

neither sorrow nor happiness. . .

. . .or people in love.

Dear Helen, she looks for shadows

in the one bright place in Troy.

People in love should not be blind.

They should look to the future

and prepare for separation.

But not so gloomily, my love.

l'll meet you in Elysium. . .

. . .where an age of years

is just a wink of time.

You charter a ship.

l'll take the flying horse, Pegasus.

To our island, Paris?

Oh, goddess come to Earth,

make me immortal with your kiss. . .

. . .and we'll live on nectar and ambrosia.

-But l'm not sure l like being so ethereal.

-Nor l.

How many years, fellow Trojans,

shall we suffer?

Our only respite,

a truce to burn our dead.

The holiday of a Troy

that once knew happy times.

Must the Trojans always set

their funeral pyre so near this house?

-How long will they accuse me?

-They lost many loved ones, my lady.

Lulled by the promises

of peace forever.

l, for one, believe we might

have had that peace. . . .

l thought l could escape from it,

but there is no place--

-And no victory for anybody.

-Go. Leave me.

Paris commanded me

to stay with you while he's on duty.

Leave me, l tell you.

No, friends!

Hear me, Trojans.

Cast her to the Spartans.

Cast Paris out of Troy.

-lf you haven't the fiber for this. . . .

-Helen, don't go out.

Their mood is dangerous.

l've sent soldiers to disperse them.

-You've come to ask me to leave Troy.

-No, Helen.

No.

But for Paris, l would have lost Hector.

l must love my sons equally. . .

. . .and whomsoever they love.

You are good.

The high priest says that even the gods

fight each other.

Some for Athena and Greece,

some for Troy and Aphrodite.

How, then, could l blame you

for this war?

-l could stop it.

-No one could.

l could. . .

. . .if l return to the Greeks, to Menelaus.

Go back to someone you so despise?

lf it brings an end to war and restores

Paris to the love of the Trojans. . . .

-He'd never let you go.

-And could l ever leave him?

-You must help me to decide.

-Would you defy the Fates?

No mortal should attempt so much,

Helen. And yet l wonder. . .

. . .is one so lovely quite mortal?

Lovely? No. l am everything

l was determined not to be.

l have only been selfish.

All the despair, the pain

and the tears l've brought.

How different from that island dream.

Return to your King of Troy. . .

. . .and tell him we will receive

Helen at the appointed place.

But warn him there must be no

treachery or deceit.

l assure you, my lord,

no deceit exists.

lt is her wish

to return to King Menelaus.

-lt's her wish. You hear that, brother?

-l've heard it often.

Wait, herald.

Tell your master from Menelaus

that we demand--

No, no, no. Nothing else.

Nothing else, only the return of Helen.

The Trojans wish to make peace.

As men of peace,

we accept their offer.

Have we suffered to return

empty-handed?

Empty-handed, Menelaus?

With Helen returned, integrity satisfied?

You are too outspoken, brother.

When the Trojans have handed

over Helen, we'll teach them. . .

. . .that we're not easily bought off.

But l'd like Achilles with us,

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