I do not ask that you feel my pain and live my life,
for to inflict the burdens of war upon the people
would defeat the entire purpose for which I went to war.
For the battles the people are told of are fair tales,

Meant to inspire some youth to emulate our example.
For him to forge his body into a tool that obeys
no matter the shape that the smith dictates.
Many dream of a being mighty spear or shield, but

Some say that my father was not my father,
that such beauty could only come from the gods,
and that I was delivered from a glorious egg,
For my father had taken the form of a swan.

before ravaging my mother with his lusts.
And when men came seeking divine wives,
I was chosen, and taken from my home,
and only the actions of my brothers prevented disaster.

You were not present upon the field
and so you have no right to speak of it.
When the walls fell I took what was mine by right
and you have no right to speak of it.

Who are you to judge me? A soldier, the greatest.
For I was the one who spared Achilles body from
the cruel revenge of the Trojans. I was the one
who stood glorious on the field, showing my courage,

A stone I marked with color as a girl,
and placed it upon a pillar with thanks,
and as I stand upon the beach it returns,
the paint stained with humors and blood.

Scattered are all my works. Burned is my home.
Murdered are my children, and mourned are them all.
I wait for a master to take up the leash
that has been placed upon my neck and I despair.

When my love tried to evade the oaths
that an unjust man had put upon him,
they at first pleaded, then threatened,
but he would not move a finger

And then they took my son, and threatened
that it would be his doing should my son die.
No fault of theirs, they claimed,
For only a madman would harm his own son.

As the great ships were heaved into the sea,
Majestically I stood at the prow of the lead,
and proclaimed that I was the forger of the pact
which would reclaim honor against the betrayers.

For I had crushed the nest of murderers,
and taken my rightful place as king,
I paid no heed the miniature vipers
that fled from my heel. Let them find places

My estranged brothers stood at my walls,
and rather than speak of our quarrels,
instead they closed their minds to reason,
and took up the heavier burden of war.

For war grinds down all in the city,
The quarrels of princes become magnified,
A slighting word from their lofty position,
tumbles down the inclined streets,

I told my brother not to go to Sparta.
And when I saw the crown in her hair
And the radiant veil on her face.
I saw the forged fruit that would destroy us.

So I pulled it from her, to cast it out,
for it was not of her doing, not of her make
the gold shimmered with a thousand chains,
and I threw it to the ground and struck it

Keep safe my jewel were the only words
my husband's brother flung at me as he dropped
a shivering and shamed woman upon my doorstep.
hope hidden under a mask of fear and pain.

And I welcomed her. Without hesitation, without doubt
For she had many things to share with me and mine.
Her stories of her youth, her child who still was held
in Sparta's endless muster lists.