The Egyptian Helen

Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949)
Opus 75 (1928 version).

ACT ONE

The island of Aithra, off the coast of Egypt.

In her island palace, the enchantress Aithra, mistress of the sea-god Poseidon, frets over her lover's absence and laments her loneliness. She questions the Omniscient Seashell, a creature capable of perceiving everything that happens in the world, as to Poseidon's whereabouts. When the Seashell tells her that the god is with the Ethiopians, Aithra becomes distraught, and her maidservant tries to persuade her to take a narcotizing drink of lotus juice. Aithra refuses, and her quarrel with the servant is interrupted only by the Seashell's sudden report of a ship near the island. The Seashell describes a beautiful woman asleep on the ship, unaware that a man is creeping toward her with murderous intention. The woman is Helen of Troy and the man is her husband, Menelaus of Sparta. Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, is infamous for running off with Paris, Prince of Troy, and thus instigating a bloody ten-year war that ended with the complete destruction of Troy. Aithra, sufficiently distracted from her own worries by this chance event, springs into action and prevents the murder by raising a storm that wrecks the ship and drives the couple to her island.

When the exhausted pair reach the palace, Aithra conceals herself and listens in on their conversation. She learns that Menelaus is so embittered by his wife's infidelity and the war that it caused, that he cannot forgive her and intends to kill her to avenge all the lives lost at Troy. Helen, however, is still in love with her husband and pleads in vain with him for reconciliation. Aithra, incensed at Menelaus' behaviour toward this beautiful woman, sends her elves to tease and torment him. They conjure up visions of Paris running away again with Helen. Menelaus, frantic and confused, rushes out in pursuit of the apparition with sword drawn. When he has gone, Aithra approaches Helen and gains her trust by restoring her radiant beauty and offering her some soothing lotus juice. They pledge friendship to one another, and then Aithra shows a drowsy Helen to her bed. Menelaus then returns to the palace, thinking in his confusion that he has finally killed Paris and Helen. Aithra introduces herself to him and, after ensuring that he has had a substantial drink of the lotus juice, fabricates a story that she believes will reconcile Menelaus to his wife. She tells him that the woman who ran away with Paris and caused the Trojan War was in fact a phantom, a double of Helen. The real Helen was transported by the kindly gods to the home of Aithra's father, where she slept the entire time, faithfully dreaming of her husband. The real Helen, Aithra tells him, is in fact present and ready to be awakened. As Helen wakes, Aithra cleverly repeats the story and fills Helen in on the scheme. Menelaus is dazzled by Helen's beauty, but still rather confused. He thought he had just killed Helen with Paris; is this Helen or a phantom? But as the lotus juice takes effect he becomes more complacent, and Aithra offers to return them to their home. Helen, however, expresses anxiety at the thought of returning to Sparta right away, and begs Aithra to send them to some isolated place where no one knows them, so they can mend their relationship in peace. Aithra hits upon the idea of sending them to an oasis beneath the Atlas Mountains, where she will provide them with a tented pavilion and amenities. Aithra cautions Helen above all not to forget to slip Menelaus more lotus juice as needed, to keep his troubled memories in check. Helen and Menelaus then retire to bed while Aithra makes preparations for their trip.

ACT TWO

An oasis at the foot of the Atlas Mountains In the morning Helen wakes in the tent by the oasis, elated by the successes of the previous night. But her joy is short-lived when Menelaus awakens and makes clear that his doubts have deepened. He believes he has killed Helen and that the woman standing next to him is a phantom conjured up by Aithra. Helen hastily attempts to get him to drink some more lotus juice but he refuses, and she realizes that the potion is not a genuine solution. Menelaus is about to leave when suddenly a troop of desert warriors appears, led by Altair, Prince of the Atlas Mountains. Altair explains that he has come at the request of Aithra to greet the unknown visitors. But his dignified manner fails him when he sees Helen and is instantly spellbound by her beauty, as are the rest of his men. Menelaus greets the situation with weary familiarity and is only shaken from his depression when Da-ud, son of Altair, steps forward to join the declarations of passion for Helen. Menelaus' tenuous mental condition causes Da-ud to assume the identity of Paris in Menelaus' imagination, thus setting an ominous train of events in motion. Altair, whose contempt for Menelaus is palpable, provocatively suggests a hunt which teams Menelaus and Da-ud. Menelaus recalls an earlier hunt when he returned home to find Helen gone with Paris. The hunt begins under a cloud of foreboding.

Helen, left alone, reflects with despair on her situation, but is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Aithra and her maidservants. They anxiously search for the flask of lotus juice and discover to their relief that the flask is unopened. Aithra explains to Helen that her servant stupidly put in the chest not only the potion of forgetfulness, but the potion of remembrance as well. Helen's response surprises Aithra, however, for remembrance is precisely what she wants in order to restore Menelaus' memory and resolve their predicament truthfully and honestly. Despite Aithra's resistance, Helen and the servants prepare the drink of remembrance, but are interrupted by the sudden intrusion of Altair, who declares that Helen shall belong to him. He orders a feast to be prepared to mark his arrogant certainty, but Helen only laughs dismissively. Then the tragedy strikes; the maidservants observing the hunt witness how Menelaus chases Da-ud and kills him. The hunting party returns with Da-ud's body. Altair, blinded by his passion for Helen, seems indifferent, but Menelaus, more distracted than ever, realizes with horror what he has done only when Helen explains it to him. She finishes preparing the drink of remembrance even as they are surrounded by Altair's armed eunuchs who arrive to ensure their presence at the feast. Helen presses the drink on Menelaus. Believing it to be poison from the phantom Helen, he accepts it willingly, comforted by the fact that he will finally be reunited in death with the real Helen. As memory floods back, his vengeful rage gives way to a new perspective on Helen. He realizes that he must confront the good and the bad in his marriage in order to reconcile all the aspects of Helen, her human frailty as well as her divine beauty. Instead of lamenting the loss of a delusive idealization of womanhood, he must acknowledge the real woman he married. Suddenly Altair rushes in to take Helen by force, but his plan is defeated by the arrival of Poseidon's warriors, summoned by Aithra. With them is Hermione, the daughter of Helen and Menelaus, whom Aithra has also brought in order to solidify further the bonds between husband and wife. As the curtain falls, the restored family prepares to embark on a new life together.