Dearest Helen,
Your last letter has reached me. I must implore you to be very careful
about what you do. I hope with all my heart that the siege will be over
soon; but if it is I don’t think it would be quite wise for you to
come back directly. You see everybody here is extremely unreasonable.
Instead of understanding that Agamemnon and Odysseus were entirely
responsible for this absurd war, Agamemnon has got his friends to put
the blame entirely on you, and they have excited the people against
you. It’s so like a man, that, isn’t it? I have been very lonely,
because all our friends are away. Aegisthus is staying here just to
look after the household and the affairs of the city. But he hardly
counts, and he is so busy that I hardly ever see him now. There is a
strong pro-Trojan party here, too. They say we had absolutely no right
to go to war, and that it was simply an expedition of pirates and
freebooters, and I must say it is very difficult to disprove it. If
there is any talk of the siege ending, please let me know _at once_.
Electra has grown into a fine girl; but she is not as lovely as poor
darling Iphigenia.
Your loving sister,
CLYTAEMNESTRA.
_Penelope to Odysseus_