[61,10] διὰ ταῦτα ἐκάλει τότε τὸν πατέρα καὶ δεῖσθαι τῶν Ἀχαιῶν ἐκέλευεν· ἐπυνθάνετο γάρ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὅτι ἐγυναικοκρατοῦντο οἱ Ἀτρεῖδαι καὶ μεῖζον ἐφρόνουν τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων αἱ γυναῖκες, οὐκ ἐπὶ κάλλει μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὑταῖς νομίζουσαι προσήκειν μᾶλλον. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ Πελοπίδας τε εἶναι καὶ ἐπήλυδας τῆς Ἑλλάδος, αὐταὶ δὲ Ἀχαιίδες, Τυνδάρεω θυγατέρες καὶ Λήδας. ὁ δὲ Τυνδάρεως ἔνδοξος ἦν καὶ βασιλεὺς τῆς Σπάρτης, ὥστε καὶ τὴν Ἑλένην διὰ τοῦτο ἐμνήστευσαν οἱ ἄριστοι τῶν (11) Ἑλλήνων καὶ βοηθήσειν ὤμοσαν. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἀδελφαὶ Κάστορος καὶ Πολυδεύκους ἦσαν, οἳ Διὸς παῖδες ἐνομίσθησαν καὶ θεοὶ μέχρι νῦν πᾶσι δοκοῦσι διὰ τὴν δύναμιν ἣν τότε ἔσχον. τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ προεῖχον· τῶν δὲ ἔξω Πελοποννήσου μεγίστη δύναμις ἦν ἡ περὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας, καὶ ταύτην καθεῖλον ἐπιστρατεύσαντες Θησέως βασιλεύοντος. ἔτι δὲ ἀνεψιὸς ἐγεγόνει αὐτοῖς Μελέαγρος ὁ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἄριστος. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἴσως οὐκ ἠπίστατο ἡ Χρυσηίς, τὸ δὲ φρόνημα ἤκουε τῶν γυναικῶν καὶ τὴν Ἑλένην ἐπεγίγνωσκεν, ὅσον ὑπερεῖχε τοῦ ἀνδρός· ὥστε ἐπειδὴ τὰ περὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν μεγάλα ἤκουε διά τε χώρας ἀρετὴν καὶ πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων καὶ χρημάτων, κατεφρόνησεν οὐ τοῦ Μενελάου μόνον, ἀλλὰ τοῦ τε Ἀγαμέμνονος καὶ ξυμπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος, καὶ ταῦτα (12) εἵλετο ἀντ´ ἐκείνων. ὁ μὲν οὖν Μενέλαος καὶ πρότερον ὑπεῖκε περὶ πάντων τῇ Ἑλένῃ καὶ ὕστερον εἰληφὼς αἰχμάλωτον ὅμως ἐθεράπευεν· ὁ δὲ Ἀγαμέμνων διὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπαιρόμενος τὴν Κλυταιμνήστραν ἠτίμασεν, ὥστε δῆλον ἦν ὅτι οὐκ ἀνέξοιντο ἀλλήλων, ἀλλ´ ἔσοιτο τοιαῦτα σχεδὸν ὁποῖα συνέπεσεν. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα ἥδετο λέγοντος τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἡ Χρυσηίς, καὶ ταῦτα φανερῶς ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν, ὅτι προτιμᾷ τῆς γυναικὸς αὐτὴν καὶ οὐδὲν (13) ἡγοῖτο χείρονα· φθόνον γὰρ καὶ ζηλοτυπίαν ᾔδει φέροντα. καὶ νὴ Δία τὸν τρόπον ἑώρα τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ὅτι οὐ βέβαιος ἀλλὰ ὑπερήφανος εἴη καὶ ὑβριστής, καὶ τί ποιήσει πρὸς αὑτὴν αἰχμάλωτον οὖσαν ἐλογίζετο παυσάμενος τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, ὅπου γε τῆς ἑαυτοῦ γυναικός, βασιλίδος τε οὔσης καὶ παῖδας ἐξ αὐτῆς πεποιημένος, οὕτως ὀλιγώρως ἐμνημόνευεν. αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀνόητοι χαίρουσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐρασταῖς, ὅταν φαίνωνται τὰς ἄλλας ἀτιμάζοντες· αἱ δὲ νοῦν ἔχουσαι τὴν φύσιν ὁρῶσι τοῦ ταῦτα ποιοῦντος ἢ λέγοντος. (14) ἅμα δὲ καὶ πρὸς αὑτὴν ᾐσθάνετο αὐτὸν ὑβριστικῶς ἔχειν, καὶ ταῦτα ὅτε μάλιστα ἤρα. τὸ γὰρ οὕτως ἀπελάσαι τὸν {Χρύσην} πατέρα τῆς ἐρωμένης καὶ μὴ φείσασθαι δι´ αὐτὴν καὶ οὐχ ὅπως παραμυθήσασθαι τὸν πρεσβύτην εἰπόντα ὡς οὐδὲν αὐτοῦ τῇ θυγατρὶ δεινὸν εἴη, τοὐναντίον δὲ μὴ μόνον ἐκείνῳ ἀπειλεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν Χρυσηίδα ἀτιμάζειν λέγοντα, τὴν δ´ ἐγὼ οὐ λύσω πρίν μιν καὶ γῆρας ἔπεισιν ἡμετέρῳ ἐνὶ οἴκῳ ἐν Ἄργεϊ, τηλόθι πάτρης, ἱστὸν ἐποιχομένην καὶ ἐμὸν λέχος ἀντιόωσαν, πόσης τινὸς ὑπερηφανίας; τί γὰρ ἂν ὕστερον ἐποίησεν, ὅτε ἐρῶν οὕτως ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς διαλέγεται; ταῦτα οὖν φυλάξασθαι καὶ προϊδεῖν οὐδαμῶς φαύλης γυναικός.

[61,10] For these reasons at that juncture she summoned her father and bade him entreat the Achaeans ; for she learned, it would appear, that the Atreidae were dominated by their wives and that the wives felt themselves superior to these men, not alone because of their beauty, but also because they believed that the right to rule belonged rather to themselves. For the Atreidae were descendants of Pelops and newcomers in Greece, whereas they themselves were women of Achaia, daughters of Tyndareüs and Leda. Now Tyndareüs had been illustrious and king of Sparta, and so not only had Helen on this account been courted by the noblest among the Greeks, but they had sworn to render aid in case of need. (11) Besides, these women were sisters of Castor and Polydeuces, who had come to be regarded as sons of Zeus, and who to this day are deemed gods by all men because of the power they acquired at that time. For not only were they pre-eminent among the dwellers in the Peloponnese, but among those outside the Peloponnese the greatest power was that of Athens, and Castor and Polydeuces had overwhelmed that city in a campaign which they made in the reign of Theseus. Furthermore, Meleager, the noblest among the Greeks, had been a cousin of theirs. Now though Chryseïs did not know these things, she did hear of the proud spirit of the women, and she learned how far above her husband Helen stood — so far that, when Helen heard of the great advantages of Asia, due alike to excellence of soil and size of population and abundance of riches, she came to scorn, not only Menelaüs, but Agamemnon too and Greece as a whole and she chose the one in preference to the other. (12) Now Menelaüs had been accustomed to yield to Helen in everything before her elopement, and also, when later on he took her captive, he was kind to her in spite of all ; but Agamemnon, puffed up because of his position as commander, had disparaged Clytemnestra, and so it was clear that they were not going to get along well together, but that instead there would be just about such actions as came to pass. Nor was Chryseïs pleased when Agamemnon said what he did, moreover publicly in the assembly of the Achaeans, namely, that he prized her more than his own wife and thought her not inferior to her, for Chryseïs knew that such talk breeds envy and jealousy. (13) Then too, she observed Agamemnon's character and saw that he was not stable but arrogant and overbearing, and she calculated what he would do to her, a captive, when he ceased to desire her, seeing that he referred to his wife, queen though she was and the mother of his children, in such disparaging terms. For though foolish women delight in their lovers when they are seen to disparage all other women, those who are sensible discern the true nature of the man who acts or talks that way. (14) And at the same time Chryseïs was aware that he was insolent too in his treatment of herself, and that too at a time when he was most in love with her. For example, that he should so roughly have driven off the father of his beloved, instead of sparing him on her account, to say nothing of his not having soothed the old man by saying that his daughter had nothing to fear from him, but, on the contrary, not only threatening him but also speaking slightingly of Chryseïs by saying, "But I'll not free her ere old age o'ertakes Her far from home, at Argos, in our house, Plying the loom and visiting my couch." What overweening insolence ! Why, what would he have done later on, seeing that while still in love he talks of her in such a fashion? Therefore, to guard against these things and to forecast them is the mark of a woman by no means ordinary.