Rashiel Jane P.

Celiz World Literature

BSED-Filipino 4B November 13, 2019

Helen of Troy, the Beauty Who Sparked the Trojan War

In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy is known as the woman whose

beauty sparked the Trojan War. But Helen’s character is more
complex than it seems. When considering the many Greek and
Roman myths that surround Helen, from her childhood to her life
after the Trojan War, a layered and fascinating woman emerges.
Helen is among the mythical characters fathered by Zeus. In the
form of a swan, Zeus either seduced or assaulted Helen’s mother
Leda. On the same night, Leda slept with her husband Tyndareus
and as a result gave birth to four children, who hatched from
two eggs.
From one egg came the semi-divine children, Helen and Polydeuces
(who is called Pollux in Latin), and from the other egg came the
mortals Clytemnestra and Castor. The boys, collectively called
the Dioscuri, became the divine protectors of sailors at sea,
while Helen and Clytemnestra would go on to play important roles
in the saga of the Trojan War.
In another, older myth, Helen’s parents were Zeus and Nemesis,
the goddess of vengeance. In this version, too, Helen hatched
from an egg.
Helen was destined to be the most beautiful woman in the
world. Her reputation was so great that even as a young child,
the hero Theseus desired her for his bride. He kidnapped her
and hid her in his city of Athens, but when he was away, Helen’s
brothers, the Dioscuri, rescued her and brought her home.
As an adult, Helen was courted by many suitors, out of whom she
chose Menelaus, the king of Sparta. But though Menelaus was
valiant and wealthy, Helen’s love for him would prove tenuous.
Around this time there was a great event among the
Olympians: the marriage of the goddess Thetis to the mortal
Peleus. All the gods were invited to attend except for Eris,
whose name means “discord.” Furious at her exclusion, Eris
comes to the party anyway and tosses an apple to the goddesses
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite on which is written “for the most
beautiful.” Each goddess claims the apple is meant for her and
the ensuing dispute threatens the peace of Olympus.
Helen was destined to be the most beautiful woman in the
world. Her reputation was so great that even as a young child,
the hero Theseus desired her for his bride. He kidnapped her
and hid her in his city of Athens, but when he was away, Helen’s
brothers, the Dioscuri, rescued her and brought her home.
As an adult, Helen was courted by many suitors, out of whom she
chose Menelaus, the king of Sparta. But though Menelaus was
valiant and wealthy, Helen’s love for him would prove tenuous.
Around this time there was a great event among the
Olympians: the marriage of the goddess Thetis to the mortal
Peleus. All the gods were invited to attend except for Eris,
whose name means “discord.” Furious at her exclusion, Eris
comes to the party anyway and tosses an apple to the goddesses
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite on which is written “for the most
beautiful.” Each goddess claims the apple is meant for her and
the ensuing dispute threatens the peace of Olympus.
Zeus appoints the Trojan prince Paris to judge who is most
beautiful of the three. To sway his vote, each goddess offers
Paris a bribe. From Hera, Paris would have royal power, while
Athena offers victory in battle. Aphrodite promises him Helen,
the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife, and Paris
names her winner of the competition. “The Judgment of Paris” by
Peter Paul Reuben’s (ca. 1638). Paris contemplates the goddesses
while Hermes holds up the apple. Athena is nearest to Hermes
with her characteristic weapons by her side, Aphrodite is in the
middle with her son Eros hugging her leg, and Hera stands on the
far right.
To claim the prize promised by Aphrodite, Paris travels to the
court of Menelaus, where he is honoured as guest. Defying the
ancient laws of hospitality, Paris seduces Helen and flees with
her in his ship.
Roman poet Ovid writes a letter from Helen to Paris, capturing
her mix of hesitance and eagerness:
I wish you had come in your swift ship back then,
When my virginity was sought by a thousand suitors.
If I had seen you, you would have been first of the thousand,
My husband will give me pardon for this judgment!
(Ovid, Heroines 17.103-6)

Paris sails home to Troy with his new bride, an act which was
considered abduction regardless of Helen’s complicity. When
Menelaus discovers that Helen is gone, he and his brother
Agamemnon lead troops overseas to wage war on Troy.
There is, however, another version of Helen’s journey from
Mycenae put forth by the historian Herodotus, the poet
Stesichorus, and the playwright Euripides in his play Helen. In
this version, a storm forces Paris and Helen to land in Egypt,
where the local king removes Helen from her kidnapper and sends
Paris back to Troy. In Egypt, Helen is worshipped as the
“Foreign Aphrodite.” Meanwhile, at Troy, a phantom image of
Helen convinces the Greeks she is there. Eventually, the Greeks
win the war and Menelaus arrives in Egypt to reunite with the
real Helen and sail home. Herodotus argues that this version of
the story is more plausible because if the Trojans had had the
real Helen in their city, they would have given her back rather
than let so many great soldiers die in battle over her.
Nevertheless, in the most popular version of the story, that of
Homer, Helen and Paris returns to Troy together. When they
arrive, Paris’ first wife, the nymph Oenone, sees them together
and laments that he has abandoned her. She grows bitter and
even faults Helen for having been kidnapped by Theseus as a
child. In heartbroken anger she says:
She, who is abducted so often, must offer herself up to be
abducted!
(Ovid, Heroides V.132)

Paris’ slight against Oenone would prove detrimental for him in

the end.
The Greeks sail to Troy and ten years of war commence.

Film Analysis

In the film, Helen of Troy one of the main character is

Achilles, the demigod warrior, a highly skilled and the
strongest champion of Greece which also showed his soft side –
his kindness, care, love for a woman and brotherly love for his
cousin, Petraclus. The film really captured my idea of Achilles
based on the book of Greek mythology. I think anyone who will
watch attentively in the film will understand and capture the
idea of character Achilles. Aside Achilles there are other
important characters in the film such as Agamemnon – ruler of
Greece, Menelaus – king of Mycenae, Paris – prince of Troy,
Hector – brother of Paris, and Helen – the cause of great war.

Each character has strengths and weaknesses. Agamemnon was a

proud and aggressive king because of that hundreds of his men
died and they’re defeated by Trojans, an apparent weakness of
him. Agamemnon strength is his men that following all his orders
and respected him.

Menelaus is just the same of Agamemnon, they have the same

characteristic and the same strength and weaknesses, in my
opinion.

Paris weakness is his being coward and unskillful fighter even

he was favored by Gods. King Priam a good thinker and always
weigh every possibility and ask opinions of council before he
made a decision but like his son Paris he is not a skilled
fighter. Hector one of the son of King Priam unlike Paris he is
a skilled fighter a brave and aggressive one but his weakness
are his confidence and having no mercy that is why Achilles
killed him in a battle. Lastly, Helen’s strength is her
irresistible beauty that every man in the kingdom wants to
protect her. Helen’s weakness showed when she was seduced by
Paris. The Gods of Greek mythology were actually not seen in the
entire film aside from mother of Achilles a minor goddess.

Gods wasn’t really there in the action but there were times that
the characters calling them or praying in the name of Gods. I
could say that the film is quite different from the original
story. It is more real and less of fantasy that is why Gods were
not really in the scene and doesn’t play an important role based
on the film. The cousin of Achilles namely Patroclus is one of
the important character in the story. Achilles really cares to
his cousin, he doesn’t want Patroclus to fight but because
Patroclus really wanted to he disguise as his cousin, Achilles
that lead to a fight to Hector who defeated and stab him to
death. Achilles rage in anger, he became totally mad and sad in
the death of his beloved cousin. Achilles doesn’t wants to
participate anymore in the war because of his quarrel to
Agamemnon but because of the death of Patroclus he had decided
to fight again against the Trojans. Achilles leads the attack to
the kingdom of Troy and his men conquer the troy but he was been
killed by an arrow thrown by coward prince Paris. One of the
most dramatic scenes in the film was the dialogue of king Priam
and Achilles over the body of Hector. King Priam bravely went to
the tavern of Achilles secretly to please and beg for the body
of his beloved son Hector.

He kneeled down and kiss the hand of Achilles while saying that
“I`m the father of the warrior you have been killed and begging
you to please return his body to me. “, king Priam was crying in
front of Achilles and pleasing Achilles to return the body. Then
after Achilles convinced

that he should return the body of Hector to his father king

Priam to have a decent burial like what he did to his beloved
cousin Patroclus. Achilles kindly let king Priam walk away and
ensured their security with the body of Hector and he also let
his woman to go with king Priam but he said that nothing will
change they’re still enemies.

On my own opinion the depiction of characters in the film is

similar to the original story but the whole film is not
accurately based on the book or the epic. The film is
entertaining but it should not be use to study the epic of Homer
because there are some changes and revisions from the original
story. The film focus on actions and it depicts reality of war
rather than the fantasy of Greek mythology. However the
experienced of watching it is great especially to watch it with
other students in the classroom.
Question: what were the most beautiful women on earth?

Answer: Unhappy! The most beautiful women on earth was Helen of

Troy the daughter of Leda and Zeus. But her beauty only made her
unhappy. The ancient Greeks believed in moderation in all
things. The beauty of Helen was not moderate so it was logical
to them that it would be a cause of trouble.

Question: what is the connection between helen and the sirens in

homer, and how does this fit into twentieth century thought?

Answer: Helen is like a Siren because she attracted many

soldiers to Troy to their death. Not too many women, like Helen,
cause wars. But wars do seem to be about the material
acquisition of goods which like Helen draw soldiers to their
deaths. Helen could be the symbol of such materialism because
her beauty caused her to be possessed, but that possession never
made her happy, nor did it make the possessor happy.

Question: I am writing a paper on Helen of Troy can you provide

any additional information.

Answer: There is much more infomation about Helen. Did you

consider, for example that who you call Greeks, call themselves
Hellenes? This word ‘Hellene’ is very similar to Helen. Robert
Graves says that the story about the judgment of Paris is really
about Helle and not about Helen. He equates Helle with
Persephone.

Question: What made her famous?

Answer: She was the most beautiful woman in the world and was
stolen from her husband by a prince of Troy. Her husband called
his friends together and they went to rescue her with 1000
ships. She was the face that launched a thousand ships. A war
was fought for ten years over her and many warriors died. In the
end she was rescued and returned home to her husband. But the
war proved too costly for the Myceneans and their civilization
soon ended. Some say Helen died with her husband, others say
that she was hanged and still others say that she married the
dead Achilles.

Question: What is Helen’s role in ancient Greek literature and

how does it compare to other women in ancient Greek literature?
Answer: Helen is the kind of women men like to read about. She
was passionately attractive and willing to run off with a
handsome man. That she was the face that launched a thousand
ships was a tribute to her sexual power. She was the kind of
woman who gets the favours from men. She was the ideal prize of
war. Not even gold or silver could mean so much. She did little
to advance the cause of women. She was the tool of Aphrodite, of
Aphrodite of the earth, not Aphrodite of the heavens. She is the
ideal heroine of every cheap dime novel. It is no wonder the
stories of Homer are still popular. The wonder of Homer is that
he can provide such a broad appeal.

Antigone is more of a divine persona. She has risen above her

humanity. Medea strives with men in a way that few women can.
She deals with many passions; sex is just one of many. Electra
suffers passively as many women must, but she accomplishes much
in spite of this.

Question: why did the Trojan War start?

Answer: Eris, the goddess of discord was ugly and popular so she
was not invited to the wedding of Peleus Thetis. So during the
festivities she threw a golden apple into the crowd. When
someone found the apple they saw that it read ‘for the fairest.
Naturally Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena thought it was for her.
They asked Zeus to decide, but he told them to go to Paris, who
was working as a shepherd. Aphrodite was able to make a deal
with Paris so that if Paris picked Aphrodite, then he would be
rewarded with the love of the most beautiful woman in the world.
But Helen was already married to Menelaus. Helen’s father had
foreseen difficulties as a result of Helen’s beauty so he made
all her suitors support the one who was victorious. When Paris
stole Helen away, the most powerful men in Greece were sworn to
go after her. When they did, the Trojan war began.

Question: What was Helen’s full name?

Answer: When she lived in Sparta she was called Helen of Sparta.
When she lived in Troy she was called Helen of Troy. She is
sometimes referred to as the daughter of Zeus. She was the wife
of Theseus, Menelaus, Paris, Deiphobus, and Achilles after her
death. She could also be called Tyndaris, a patronymic

Question: what characteristics by her would be most neede by a

women of today?and why?

Answer: Women, especially beautiful ones, can sometimes inspire

men to action, but it would be better if the action were more
productive than a battle. Women of today need beauty as a look
at any women’s magazine will testify, but beauty is actually
complicated. It is not so much how you are built, but how you
act, and how you array yourself. There is also a mystery to
beauty that makes it seem magical. Of the ancient gods and
goddesses, Aphrodite is the most relevant today.

Question: What did she look like? (Colours)

Answer: Hesiod refers to her as rich haired. In the Iliad she

weaves a purple linen piece. Purple is probably the colour that
she wore, because it was reserved for very important people.

Question: In which Shakespearean work was the line, A face that

launched a thousand ships”?

Answer: “Was this face the face that every day under his
household roof did keep ten thousand men?” –Richard II, Act
IV,Scene I, Line 280. Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus –
(“Is this the face that launched a thousand ships…”)

Question: How does helen critique, relfect on, or briefly

destabilize the masculine world of war, conquest, and capture
that the poem describes?

Answer: Penelope says these words to Odysseus: “For always my

heart within my breast shuddered, for fear lest some man should
come and deceive me with his words, for many they be that devise
gainful schemes and evil. Nay even Argive Helen, daughter of
Zeus, would not have lain with a stranger, and taken him for a
lover, had she known that the warlike sons of the Achaeans would
bring her home again to her own dear country. Howsoever, it was
the god that set her upon this shameful deed; nor ever, ere
that, did she lay up in her heart the thought of this folly, a
bitter folly, whence on us too first came sorrow.” (Odyssey,
Book XXIII)
In Book III of the Iliad it is said: “Thus spoke the goddess,
and Helen’s heart yearned after her former husband, her city,
and her parents. She threw a white mantle over her head, and
hurried from her room, weeping as she went, not alone, but
attended by two of her handmaids, Aethrae, daughter of Pittheus,
and Clymene.”

In Book III of the Iliad Helen says: ‘”Sir,” answered Helen,

“father of my husband, dear and reverend in my eyes, would that
I had chosen death rather than to have come here with your son,
far from my bridal chamber, my friends, my darling daughter, and
all the companions of my girlhood. But it was not to be, and my
lot is one of tears and sorrow. As for your question, the hero
of whom you ask is Agamemnon, son of Atreus, a good king and a
brave soldier, brother-in-law as surely as that he lives, to my
abhorred and miserable self.’

Also in Book II is this exchange between Helen and the goddess

Aphrodite:

“Then she (Aphrodite) went to call Helen, and found her on a

high tower with the Trojan women crowding round her. She took
the form of an old woman who used to dress wool for her when she
was still in Lacedaemon, and of whom she was very fond. Thus
disguised she plucked her by perfumed robe and said, “Come
hither; Alexandrus says you are to go to the house; he is on his
bed in his own room, radiant with beauty and dressed in gorgeous
apparel. No one would think he had just come from fighting, but
rather that he was going to a dance, or had done dancing and was
sitting down.”

With these words she moved the heart of Helen to anger. When she
marked the beautiful neck of the goddess, her lovely bosom, and
sparkling eyes, she marveled at her and said, “Goddess, why do
you thus beguile me? Are you going to send me afield still
further to some man whom you have taken up in Phrygia or fair
Meonia? Menelaus has just vanquished Paris, and is to take my
hateful self back with him. You are come here to betray me. Go
sit with Paris yourself; henceforth be goddess no longer; never
let your feet carry you back to Olympus; worry about him and
look after him till he make you his wife, or, for the matter of
that, his slave- but me? I shall not go; I can garnish his bed
no longer; I should be a by-word among all the women of Troy.
Besides, I have trouble on my mind.”

Aphrodite was very angry, and said, “Bold hussy, do not provoke
me; if you do, I shall leave you to your fate and hate you as
much as I have loved you. I will stir up fierce hatred between
Trojans and Achaeans, and you shall come to a bad end.”

At this Helen was frightened. She wrapped her mantle about her
and went in silence, following the goddess and unnoticed by the
Trojan women.’

Later in Book III of the Iliad: “When they came to the house of
Paris the maid-servants set about their work, but Helen went
into her own room, and the laughter-loving goddess took a seat
and set it for her facing Alexandrus. On this Helen, daughter of
aegis-bearing Jove, sat down, and with eyes askance began to
upbraid her husband.

“So you are come from the fight,” said she; “would that you had
fallen rather by the hand of that brave man who was my husband.
You used to brag that you were a better man with hands and spear
than Menelaus. Then why not go at once and challenge him again-
but I should advise you not to do so, for if you are foolish
enough to meet him in single combat, you will soon fall by his
spear.”

Question: Would you consider Helen as a Hero in the Iliad? And

do you feel sorry for her?

Answer: Helen was more of a victim than anything else. Her

decision to take off with Paris was not a rational one, so she
had no real active role. Her speeches are meant to elicit pity.

Question: why was helen the most beautiful woman in the world.

Answer: One reason is that she was the daughter of the head god
Zeus. The suggestion of Robert Graves is that Helen is actually
Aphrodite herself. He suggests that Paris receives the apple
rather than gives it as a prize and that the apple is a sorb,
the fruit of the service tree. When sliced cross-wise this fruit
reveals a star, a representative of the goddess in her five
stations: birth, youth, marriage, old-age, death. Aphrodite is
the agent of these transformations and the apple is her symbol.
Question: was helen of troy the woman of bronze age?

Answer: At the time of the Trojan war when Helen lived iron was
available but it was not yet used for weapons. Helen lived at
the very end of the Bronze Age.

Question: Did Paris give Helen of Troy an apple?

Answer: In the most recent version of the Judgment of Paris

story, Paris gave the golden apple of Discord to Aphrodite in
exchange for Helen. But an apple (or a quince) is the symbol of
Aphrodite and an older version of the story may have Aphrodite
giving the apple to Paris so he could get Helen. Helen also
could have been a goddess of love herself and this would involve
exchanges of apples with Paris of the sort just mentioned. But
it is also possible that what was exchanged was not an apple at
all but a bag of letters. These would have spelled out Paris’s
future much like the weaving of the fates. Notice that there are
three fates just as Paris judged three goddesses. After the
Greeks Aphrodite’s apple turned into a round mirror with a
handle so that she could vainly review her charms.

Question: What is the relation between Helen of Troy and

Alexander the Great?

Answer: Helen lived about 1200 BCE while Alexander the Great
lived from 356 to 323 BCE. Helen’s lover Paris was sometimes
called Alexander. Alexander the Great was greatly influenced by
the Iliad in which Helen plays a major role.

Question: What role did Helen Of Troy have in the odyssey of

homer?

Answer: Helen was the wife of Meneleaus who Telemachus visited.

Question: How was Helen depicited in The Odysseys compared to

her depiction in the Iliad?

Answer: In the Iliad she is the unhappy tool of Aphrodite. In

the Odyssey she is a regretful, retired, beauty queen.

Question: What was Helen of Troy (Sparta) ‘s Roman name?

Answer: Helen
Question: how would a house in troy look like?

Answer: A house in the Troy of Homer would have been a

rectangular building with a flat roof. Each house may have had
one door. Windows were few and small. Some houses had a centyral
fireplace with a corresponding large hole in the roof. But for
many the fireplace would have been outside.

Question: hello- How is helen Manipulative?

Answer: Helen is manipulated not manipulative.

Question: then how is she manipulated??

Answer: Aphrodite either makes Helen more attractive, so men

desire her more, or she increases the desire of men who are
interested in her. She also made Helen fall in love with Paris
so he could easily abduct her.

Question: Was Helen really the most beautiful woman on Earth?

Answer: The ancient Greeks though so. But they also thought the
Greek women were the most beautiful on Earth, so the sculpted
them in stone. Now the Venus de Milo is the standard for
feminine beauty. Is Elizabeth Hurley or Britney Spears more
beautiful than the Venus de Milo? If Helen was not, then who
was? Who, for that matter, has ever been more beautiful than
Helen?

Question: Did Helen fall in love with Paris, and go with him
willingly or was she tricked by Aphrodite? If she did fall in
love with Paris, why was she moaning and groaning about her
first husband during the Trojan War?

Answer: Helen was used by Aphrodite. She fell in love with Paris
because Aphrodite made her do it. She was not tricked.

Question: Was Helen the most beautiful mortal or did her beauty
surpass the goddesses’ as well?

Answer: No mortal can exceed the beauty of the goddesses, but

they can nearly equal them, which is what Helen did. She was the
most beautiful then, but there are few that have even come close
to her since. After all, how many wars have been fought for the
love of a woman.
Question: How many children did Helen have? Some myths refer to
her having a son as well as a daughter.

Answer: Pausanias, Description of Greece says that Helen was the

mother of Iphigenia by Theseus.

In the Odyssey Homer says: “And for his son he was bringing to
his home the daughter of Alector out of Sparta, for his well-
beloved son, strong Megapenthes, {*} born of a slave woman, for
the gods no more showed promise of seed to Helen, from the day
that she bare a lovely child, Hermione, as fair as golden
Aphrodite.”

Question: In Book 4 of the Iliad, Homer refers to Menelaus’ son

Megapenthes, born to him of another woman besides Helen. If he
had the most beautiful woman as his wife, why did Menelaus have
to be such a pig as to sleep with another woman?

Answer: Helen was not a fertile woman. If Menelaus was to have

an heir he would have to have it by another woman. This was
standard practice in ancient Greece. Helen was abducted and
raped when she was young and this incident may have rendered her
infertile.

Question: What happen as a result of paris’s choice?

Answer: Paris abducted Helen and set off a chain of events that
resulted in the destruction of Troy and most of the Greek
civilization as it was then known. This event starts a very dark
period in the history of the Greek peoples.

Question: I’m doing a report on Helen what are some secrets or

talents Helen had or what did she do?

Answer: She was skilled in the use of drugs as Homer reveals in

the Odyssey: “Then Helen, daughter of Zeus, turned to new
thoughts. Presently she cast a drug into the wine whereof they
drank, a drug to lull all pain and anger, and bring
forgetfulness of every sorrow. Whoso should drink a draught
thereof, when it is mingled in the bowl, on that day he would
let no tear fall down his cheeks, not though his mother and his
father died, not though men slew his brother or dear son with
the sword before his face, and his own eyes beheld it. Medicines
of such virtue and so helpful had the daughter of Zeus, which
Polydamna, the wife of Thon, had given her, a woman of Egypt,
where earth the grain-giver yields herbs in greatest plenty,
many that are healing in the cup, and many baneful. There each
man is a leech skilled beyond all human kind; yea, for they are
of the race of Paeeon.”

Question: How come they never had any color photographs of

Helen?

Answer: Helen lived 3000 years before the invention of

photography.

Question: How did Helen of Troy die?

Answer: Pausanias, Description of Greece, 3.19.1, “The name of

Therapne is derived from the daughter of Lelex, and in it is a
temple of Menelaus; they say that Menelaus and Helen were buried
here. The account of the Rhodians is different. They say that
when Menelaus was dead, and Orestes still a wanderer, Helen was
driven out by Nicostratus and Megapenthes and came to Rhodes,
where she had a friend in Polyxo, [10] the wife of Tlepolemus.
For Polyxo, they say, was an Argive by descent, and when she was
already married to Tlepolemus shared his flight to Rhodes. At
the time she was queen of the island, having been left with an
orphan boy. They say that this Polyxo desired to avenge the
death of Tlepolemus on Helen, now that she had her in her power.
So she sent against her when she was bathing handmaidens dressed
up as Furies, who seized Helen and hanged her on a tree, and for
this reason the Rhodians have a sanctuary of Helen of the Tree.”

Question: do you have a recent picture of Helen of Troy,

Aphrodite, Athena,Thetis,andHera

Answer: Helen died almost 3200 years ago and no pictures were
made of her before she died. Even though the others are immortal
goddesses, and as alive today as they were then, still no one
has sighted them in over 2000 years.

Question: Were those men really willing to lay down their lives
for Helen?

Answer: That is what the bards said and the ancient Greeks
believed them. Doubts have been raised, but no archeological
evidence has been found.
Question: Maybe Helen was not so beautiful. Only there were few
beauties at that time, so that she was precious. Is it possible?

Answer: No. She was not only beautiful; she was the most
beautiful woman in the world; not only at that time but for many
years to come. After all, how often has a face launched a
thousand ships? That the ancient Greek women were very beautiful
is certified by the many images that remain of them. The Venus
de Milo is still the standard by which feminine beauty is
judged. A Greek woman was used as her model. And the Greeks were
proud to claim that their women were so beautiful that they
seduced the very gods who came to have sex with them and produce
their talented offspring. Helen’s mother Leda was one of the
women who seduced a god and Helen was the result of this
seduction.

Question: How did Helen Start the War?

Answer: Tyndareus, the father of Helen, was afraid that Helen

would not be protected so he mad all the suitors of Helen swear
allegiance to the one who was successful. The war was started
because Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world was
abducted by Paris. He was able to do this because he was bribed
by Aphrodite into his saying that she was the most beautiful
deity. Hera and Athena insisted that Helen be pursued because
Paris slighted them.

Question: what does the apple have to do with helen

Answer: The apple caused the Judgment of Paris which you should
click on the Menu Directory to see.

Question: did Paris “BANG’ Helen

Answer: Theseus raped Helen and Iphigenia may have been the
result. When Menelaus married Helen Hermione was born as their
only child. She was nine when Helen ran off with Paris and was
Helen’s last child, if not her only child. Homer leads us to
believe that Paris and Helen lived as man and wife in Troy, but
others are not so sure. Herodotus thinks Paris got as far as
Egypt with Helen and lost her there. Menelaus did go to Egypt
and brought Helen back. Before the end of the Trojan war after
Paris was killed his two brothers fought over Helen. Deiphobus
won and forced Helen to marry him.
Question: Can you show me a statue made for Helen?

Answer: No. Nothing remains of Helen except the stories about

her and her bath: opposite Cenchreae is Helen’s Bath. It is a
large stream of salt, tepid water, flowing from a rock into the
sea.

Question: What were some of the conversations Helen and Paris

had that proved her misfortunate beauty?

Answer: ‘”So you are come from the fight,” said she; “would that
you had fallen rather by the hand of that brave man who was my
husband. You used to brag that you were a better man with hands
and spear than Menelaus. Then why not go at once and challenge
him again- but I should advise you not to do so, for if you are
foolish enough to meet him in single combat, you will soon fall
by his spear.”

And Paris answered, “Wife, do not vex me with your reproaches.

This time, with the help of Minerva, Menelaus has vanquished me;
another time I may, myself, be victor, for I too have gods that
will stand by me. Come, let us lie down together and make
friends. Never yet was I so passionately enamoured of you as at
this moment- not even when I first carried you off from
Lacedaemon and sailed away with you- not even when I had
converse with you upon the couch of love in the island of Cranae
was I so enthralled by desire of you as now.” On this he led her
towards the bed, and his wife went with him.’ Iliad, Book III.

Question: Why was Helen of troy hated because she was beautiful?
Does that have something to do with the sexism that happens in
Greece tody?

Answer: When you have something there are always people who are
jealous. Helen was the most beautiful and, as a result many
women were jealous. The sexism of Helen’s time is only vaguely
related to the sexism of today. If a man behaved badly toward a
woman in those days he risked the wrath of one of the goddesses.
Today men have no fear of goddesses.

Question: why does helen weave a web showing the struggles of

trojans and achains
Answer: Iliad, Book III: “Meanwhile Iris went to Helen in the
form of her sister-in-law, wife of the son of Antenor, for
Helicaon, son of Antenor, had married Laodice, the fairest of
Priam’s daughters. She found her in her own room, working at a
great web of purple linen, on which she was embroidering the
battles between Trojans and Achaeans that Mars had made them
fight for her sake.

Notice that in her life Helen weaves a web that causes the
Trojans and Acheans to struggle against each other.

Question: What is meant by a face that launched a thousand

ships?

Answer: Helen was so beautiful and so desirable that when Paris

took off with her a thousand ships were launched to bring her
back.

Question: did menalaus get helen back

Answer: Yes he did. He had vowed to kill her, but her looks
saved her. They then wandered around for eight years, mostly in
Egypt, before they arrived safe in Sparta. Most stories say they
are buried together.

Question: What time frame was Hector in relation to Helen of

Troy during the Trogen wars (did he enter the picture before or
after the famed Helen)?

Answer: I believe Hector was born after Helen and he was killed
well before she died.

Question: what is the myth of Helen of Troy & Paris? I also need
some backup information on this, a littlenhistory on how/where
the myth originated..

Answer: The story of Helen and Paris is told in the judgment of

Paris. Click on the menu below and click on judgment. The myth
originated with events that happened in Greece just before the
Trojan War. In Greece at the time there were bards who composed
poems that spread the news of the society around. The bards
would travel around Greece and repeat the many poems that they
knew by heart. This was the main entertainment in those days.
Eventually the poem would be taught to a younger bard. For some
reason all the interesting news occurred in the period before
and just after the Trojan War. It was not until some 6 to 8
hundred years later that the poems started to be written down.

Question: what was her symbol?

Answer: Helen was a mortal woman and not a goddess. She had no
symbol. If she had a symbol it might be suggested by her name
which means ‘torch within’. A symbol of a heart overlaid by a
smaller torch might work. Aphrodite made use of Helen and was
the main deity associated with Helen. Aphrodite had many
symbols.

Question: How long was the war?

Answer: The Trojan War was about ten years long. But it did not
start immediately after Helen’s abduction. Helen may have been
with Paris nine years before the war started.

Question: Why did Aphrodite manipulate Helen?

Answer: Aphrodite had made a commitment to Paris which she was

compelled to keep. The commitment of a goddess is good no matter
what. In fact Aphrodite kept Helen with Paris as long as he
lived. Helen returned to Meneleus only after Paris.