II
When the war ended in Troy, with the fall of the city, Menelaos went looking for Helen, with a sword in his hand. He was undecided whether to thrust the blade through her alluring bosom, or to cut her swan-like throat. He hadn't seen her for some time. She was waiting, as though they had appointed the hour. With a simple gesture she bared her heart for his vengeance, and looked at him. He looked at her. The sword embarrassed him.
“Helen,” he said, “it’s time we went home.”
They tell the story another way, too. Menelaos was not alone, they say, when he came on Helen in that inner room; Agamemnon was there, and others, to witness the final justice of the long war. Several who had never seen Helen, crowded in for a first and last look at the beauty for which they had fought. When Menelaos saw Helen standing there, he was conscious of his escort. Anger and strength oozed out of him, but those sympathetic friends were at hand, to see a husband do his duty. He raised the sword—slowly—not slowly enough. Then he heard Agamemnon’s voice.
“Your wrath might as well stop here, Menelaos; you’ve got your wife back—why kill her? Priam’s city is taken, Paris is dead, you have your revenge. To kill Helen would confuse those who ask what caused the war.13
