Helen of troy biography summary examples

Overview

The woman who came to have someone on known as Helen of Metropolis was actually born Helen draw round Sparta. She was the girl of Zeus, the king ransack the gods, and Leda, a- mortal woman and the her indoors of the Spartan king Tyndareus. Helen’s siblings included the doughty twins Castor and Polydeuces (also known as the Dioscuri) arm the murderous Clytemnestra.

Helen with dispatch became known as the domineering beautiful woman in the terra. She had so many suitors that her foster father Tyndareus feared a war would flood over her hand. Sure satisfactory, when Helen left her Hellene husband Menelaus for the agreeable Trojan prince Paris, war sincere break out: the Greeks fought the Trojans for ten finish years to get Helen back.

Ever since antiquity, poets, readers, vital scholars have offered contradictory interpretations of Helen.

Some have eccentric her as haughty and proud, others as romantic and accommodating. There were even versions type the myth in which Helen remained loyal to Menelaus presentday did not sail to Weight at all. Even today, juicy characters from Greek mythology apprehension the imagination as much kind the perpetually ambiguous Helen bargain Troy.

Etymology

The etymology of the designation “Helen” (Greek Ἑλένη, translit.

Helénē) continues to be debated.^[1]

One institution of thought derives Helen’s fame from Greek or Indo-European fountain-head words referring to the come to rest of celestial bodies—for example, decency Sanskrit svaraṇā, meaning “the work one.” Scholars seeking an Indo-European origin for Helen have compared her story to that farm animals the Hindu deity Saranyu, who, like Helen, ran away devour her husband (the sun maker Surya).

Thus, Helen might fake originally been connected with goddesses of the sun or lunation, such as the Greek Selene.^[2]

A different approach has linked Helen to Venus, the Roman twin of the Greek Aphrodite. According to this view, the lambda in Helen’s name was at or in the beginning a nu, while the premier letter was a digamma, substance that her name (transliterated) was originally “Wenena”—a variation of depiction Latin Venus.^[3]

Other scholars have contiguous Helen’s name with the Hellenic word ἑλένη (helénē; alternatively spelled ἑλάνη, helánē), which can compromise either “torch” or “basket,” talented with ἑλένιον (helénion), a fast of plant.^[4]

Alternatively, Helen has bent interpreted by some as inspiration early vegetation deity.^[5] Lily Clader, seeking to combine these divergent etymologies, argued that the accumulation goddess who eventually became Helen got her name from decency wicker baskets—ἑλέναι (helénai) in Greek—that were used during her festival.^[6]

Pronunciation

• English	Greek
  Helen	Ἑλένη (translit. Helenē)

• Phonetic	IPA
  [HEL-uhn]	/ˈhɛl ən/

Titles and Epithets

Helen’s most famous title was “Helen of Troy,” but she was also “Helen of Sparta”; Metropolis was, after all, her rootage and where she ruled chimp queen for many years hitherto fleeing to Troy with Town.

Helen had numerous other epithets as well—so many, in naked truth, that an entire book has been written about them.^[7] Lone of her most common epithets was Argeiē (“Argive”), a proclivity to her place of instigate in the neighborhood of righteousness Peloponnesian city of Argos. Different epithets, such as kourē Dios and Dios ekgegauia (“daughter appeal to Zeus”), referred to her godly parentage.

Finally, Helen boasted patronize epithets that described her spirit, including leukōlenos (“white-armed”), dia (“brilliant”) or dia gynaikōn (“brilliant in the midst women”), ēukomos or kallikomos (“fair-haired”), and kalliparēios (“fair-cheeked”).

Attributes and Iconography

Beauty

Helen’s signature attribute was her guardian.

Known as the most good-looking woman in the world, nondiscriminatory one glance from Helen was enough to make men unsubtle their better judgment. The mortifying consequences of Helen’s looks were perhaps most memorably captured look onto the words of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus:

Was this the appearance that launched a thousand ships

And burnt the topless towers declining Ilium?^[8]

Ancient sources constantly mentioned Helen’s beauty with awe, but on occasions described it with anything finer than formulaic epithets (“fair-haired,” “fair-cheeked,” etc.).

There are a loss of consciousness exceptions. Dares of Phrygia, put under somebody's nose example, in a sixth-century BCE prose work that claimed manuscript be an eyewitness account translate the fall of Troy, abstruse this to say of Helen’s appearance and personality:

She was fair, ingenuous, and charming. Her feet were the best; her booming the cutest.

There was unornamented beauty-mark between her eyebrows.^[9]

In lid sources, however, it was character effects of Helen’s looks ditch were most notable. In attack tradition, for example, Menelaus was ready to kill his extramarital wife by the time City finally fell; but a free glimpse of her was ample supply to make him drop surmount weapon and take her shortcoming home to be his better half again, letting bygones be bygones.

Personality

Beyond her looks, Helen had unornamented powerful, if contradictory, personality.^[10] Management Homer’s Iliadand Odyssey, the pristine barbarian surviving texts to represent companion as a character, Helen gaze at be astonishingly self-aware and regular self-deprecating, expressing regret for gliding off with Paris and uniform referring to herself as splendid “dog.”^[11] On the other take up, Homer’s Helen is also insincere and manipulative, as when she tries to trick the Greeks inside the Trojan Horse get trapped in giving themselves away to magnanimity Trojans.^[12]

Helen’s enigmatic nature persisted ordinary the works of Greek weather Roman writers after Homer.

Tedious condemned her for her unfaithfulness and for starting the Asiatic War. Aeschylus, for example, defined Helen as “that bride contribution the spear and source robust strife,” continuing punningly that “true to her name, a Break the surface she proved to ships, Float up to men, Hell to city.”^[13]

On the other hand, some authors devised creative ways to assoil Helen: in the fifth 100 BCE, for example, the philosopher Gorgias reasoned that, even in case Helen had not been tyrannize off by physical force challenging succumbed instead to love, concupiscence, or persuasion, she should calm be regarded as a sufferer of compulsion.^[14]

In another twist, regarding was also an alternative institution in which Helen never betrayed her husband Menelaus at telephone call but was instead replaced amount Troy by a phantom folded (see below).

Iconography

Helen was often insignificant in ancient art.

Numerous offend paintings show her as initiative alluring and well-proportioned young chick. Yet her famous beauty was difficult to capture: it was said that the fifth-century BCE painter Zeuxis wished to deadlock Helen but was unable close by find a model who was beautiful enough. He solved rank problem by combining the outstrip features of five different women.^[16]

Family

Family Tree

• Parents

• Siblings

• Consorts

• Children

  Daughters	Sons
  Aethiolas Aganus Bunomus Corythus Idaeus Maraphius Nicostratus Pleisthenes

Mythology

Origins

In the most familiar custom, Helen was born after Zeus, the ruler of the Hellene gods, seduced Leda, the better half of King Tyndareus of City.

As part of this appeal, Zeus transformed himself into simple swan; when an eagle began to chase him, he flew to Leda for refuge. Take action then slept with Leda—still take away the form of a swan!—and departed, leaving the queen personage Sparta pregnant.^[30]

From here, the tale gets even stranger.

After inactive with Zeus, Leda also slept with her husband Tyndareus with the addition of became pregnant by him, also. When it came time appearance her to give birth, Leda laid an egg (or one, in some traditions), from which emerged not only Helen on the other hand also Clytemnestra, Castor, and Polydeuces.^[31] Most sources made Helen innermost Polydeuces the children of Zeus, and Clytemnstra and Castor class children of Tyndareus.^[32]

In another aid organization, Helen was the daughter war cry of Zeus and Leda on the contrary of Zeus and Nemesis.

Mostly described as the daughter blame the primordial deity Nyx,^[33] Curse was the divine embodiment supplementary retribution. In trying to escape Zeus’ advances, Nemesis transformed bodily into various animals, the person's name of which was a goose; Zeus in turn transformed mortal physically into a goose or out swan (there are different versions) and raped her.

Nemesis 1 became pregnant and laid brush egg, which came into Leda’s possession. When Helen hatched circumvent it, she was raised coarse Leda and Tyndareus as although she were their own daughter.^[34]

Abduction by Theseus

Even at a truly young age, Helen’s beauty desecration her unwanted attention. When she was still just a child—in some sources as young gorilla seven years old,^[35] in remainder ten^[36] or twelve^[37] years old—Helen was abducted by the Greek hero Theseus, who wanted erect marry the daughter of undiluted god.

He was helped prickly this plot by his tie up friend Pirithous.

Theseus then left Helen with his mother Aethra linctus he helped Pirithous abduct spruce divine wife of his have. Their target this time was Persephone, the queen of Hell. Ultimately, this turned into a-ok fiasco, and Theseus and Pirithous became trapped in the Underworld.

While Theseus and Pirithous were touch, Helen’s brothers Castor and Polydeuces came to rescue her.

They ransacked Athens and captured Theseus’ mother Aethra in revenge. Since punishment for her son’s mischief, Aethra was forced to junction Helen’s servant—a post she bursting for many years.^[38]

In some encipher, Helen was of childbearing head start when Theseus abducted her remarkable actually bore him a girl named Iphigenia.

When Helen common to Sparta, she gave Iphigenia to her sister Clytemnestra here raise. Later, Iphigenia was given up by Clytemnestra’s husband Agamemnon unexceptional that the Greeks could alleviate the gods and sail disparage Troy.^[39]

The Suitors and the Promise of Tyndareus

When Helen came cherished age to be married, dignity most eligible young men (and some not-so-young ones) came escape far and wide to quest after her hand.

But Tyndareus terrifying that by choosing one male as Helen’s husband, he would offend the others, and make certain the unsuccessful suitors would later wage war against the be a success one—or against Tyndareus.

Luckily, the superstar Odysseus, well known for queen cunning, devised a plan penalty deliver Tyndareus from his case.

Though Odysseus had come stick at Sparta with the other suitors, he knew that his poor quality kingdom of Ithaca would battle-cry be enough to win him Helen’s hand. He therefore pledged Tyndareus a solution to wreath problem if he would edifying Odysseus in his suit practise Helen’s cousin Penelope.

Odysseus’ catch was simple: Tyndareus would fashion all the suitors swear more than ever oath to support Helen’s improper husband against anyone who health quarrel with him.

Tyndareus straight away agreed, and the suitors draft swore what came to continue known as the Oath loosen Tyndareus. Menelaus was then person's name as Helen’s husband (whether consent to was Tyndareus or Helen who chose him varies among old sources).^[40]

In most traditions, Tyndareus stepped down from the throne provision Helen was married, and Menelaus became ruler of Sparta twist his place.^[41] Menelaus and Helen had several children together, picture most famous being a girl named Hermione.

Paris

After Helen had bent living as Menelaus’ wife protect some time, the handsome Town came to Sparta on neat as a pin diplomatic mission.

Paris was grand prince from Troy, a moneyed city by the Hellespont (the narrow strait between Asia bid Europe), on the northwestern littoral of modern Turkey.

Prior the same as his voyage, Paris had antiquated tasked with judging a attractiveness contest between three powerful goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

Justness winner of this contest was to receive a golden apple inscribed with the words “to the fairest.” Each goddess attempted to bribe Paris, but recoup was Aphrodite’s bribe that won him over: she promised saunter if Paris picked her, she would grant him the like of Helen, the most dense woman in the world. Town thus gave Aphrodite the aureate apple and went to Metropolis to collect his reward.^[42]

In excellence most familiar sources for magnanimity myth, Helen went with Town willingly, won over by realm charm and good looks.^[43] According to some authors, however, Town raped Helen and took deduct to Troy against her will.^[44] Other ancient sources were misleading about whether she chose tolerate leave or was carried erase by force.

A Variant Tradition: Helen in Egypt

To make matters smooth more confusing, there was upshot alternative tradition (known from frown by Stesichorus, Herodotus, and Euripides) in which Helen did keen go to Troy at all.^[45]

According to Euripides (and probably Stesichorus, whose work on the angle no longer survives), Helen was replaced by a kind liberation phantom (called an eidōlon in Greek) that resembled her purely.

It was this false Helen that Paris carried off put up with him to Troy; the verifiable Helen, meanwhile, was spirited protect to Egypt.

Menelaus, thinking Helen had gone to Troy, packed the Greeks and fought excellence Trojans for ten long not knowing his efforts were for a mere phantom. Sole after Troy had been pack did Menelaus happen upon dignity real Helen on his waterway back home, while making on the rocks detour through Egypt.

According bring forth this variant, then, the complete Trojan War had been fought in vain.^[46]

Herodotus’ version of that myth is, if anything, flat bleaker. According to Herodotus (who claimed to have learned emperor version from Egyptian priests), Helen was carried off by Town during his visit to Metropolis.

But during a stop socialize with Egypt, the Egyptian King Proteus realized what Paris had organize and forced him to lack of restraint Helen in Egypt until disgruntlement true husband Menelaus could come into being for her.

Meanwhile, the Greeks sailed to Troy and needed that Helen be returned cuddle them. When the Trojans explained that they did not possess her, the Greeks did yowl believe them and went serve war with the city.

Unsettle years later, with Troy undecided ruins, the Greeks finally understand the Trojans had been effective the truth, and Menelaus managed to retrieve Helen from Egypt.^[47]

The Trojan War

When Menelaus realized think it over Paris had left Sparta ordain Helen in tow, he known as on all of Helen’s an assortment of suitors to fulfill their consecrate.

The suitors slowly came bring forth every corner of Greece be in breach of support Helen’s marriage to Menelaus, just as they had unremitting to do years before. Menelaus’ brother Agamemnon, the king short vacation Mycenae and the most ringing of the Greeks, was fitted the leader of the field trip. According to the most wellreceived version of the myth, on top of one thousand ships gathered fight back sail against Troy.^[48]

Agamemnon and Menelaus suffered numerous setbacks at greatness outset of their expedition, with several Greeks who did classify wish to participate (among them, the famous hero Achilles), fact list accidental landing at Mysia (just south of Troy), and catastrophic storms.

At one point, Agamemnon angered the goddess Artemis become calm was forced to sacrifice government daughter Iphigenia (who in suitable traditions was really the girl of Helen and Theseus; supervise above) in order to reconcile her. Only after this offering up were the Greeks able follow sail to Troy.^[49]

When the heavy Greek army finally landed go in for Troy, they first sent marvellous delegation to the Trojans—made let your hair down of Helen’s husband Menelaus good turn the crafty Odysseus, among others—to request that Helen be shared.

When the Trojan king Priam steadfastly refused, the Trojan Warfare at last began.

During the hostilities, Helen remained in Troy chimp Paris and the other Asiatic warriors fought to defend their city against the Greeks. While Priam and his son Bluster, the commander of the Dardan army, were kind to Helen, few other Trojans were. Edge your way the same, Helen was high-rise object of wonder and admiration in Troy.

Homer reports distinction words spoken by the Metropolis elders when they saw Helen on the walls of Troy:

Small blame that Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans should for such shipshape and bristol fashion woman long time suffer woes; wondrously like is she difficulty the immortal goddesses to manifestation upon.

But even so, emancipation all that she is much an one, let her engender upon the ships, neither befit left here to be expert bane to us and work stoppage our children after us.^[50]

The fighting raged for ten years. Subtract the ninth year, Menelaus ahead Paris agreed to settle depiction matter once and for grow weaker in single combat, but Cytherea saved Paris’ life after Menelaus won.

Thus, the war continued.

Some time later, Paris was handle by Philoctetes with the poisoned arrows that had once belonged to Heracles. Yet the Trojans still would not return Helen to Menelaus; instead, Helen was given as a wife surrender Paris’ brother Deiphobus.

The Fall clone Troy

True to her nature, Helen appears to have played clean contradictory role in the give up the ghost of Troy.

In one tradition, Helen helped Odysseus when he snuck into Troy as a secret service agent during the last year more than a few the war.

It was aforesaid that he was on cool mission to retrieve the Pd, an ancient statue that dependable invincibility to whomever possessed concentrate. As long as the Pd was in Troy, the Greeks could not hope to trounce the city. By hiding Odysseus, Helen made it possible signify him to steal the Pd and effectively sealed Troy’s fate.^[51]

In the end, the Greeks established to take Troy by deceit rather than force and well-made a giant, hollow wooden horse—the so-called Trojan Horse.

When hole was finished, a handful achieve the bravest and strongest Hellene warriors hid inside while justness rest of the Greeks sailed away. The Trojans, thinking invite was some kind of position, carried the massive construction walkout their city. But Helen solid that there were Greek warriors hiding within the horse.

There are different versions of what she did with this realization. In one version, Helen definite to help the Greeks. Just as night had fallen, she contracted the Trojan women with bright torches in pretend religious rites. She then used the torches to signal the rest reminiscent of the Greek army from influence central tower of Troy.^[52]

In other version, Helen decided to mark out the Trojans.

As the Trojans set up the wooden buck in the heart of magnanimity city, Helen tried to do the Greek warriors out drawing hiding by calling on encroachment of them with the voices of their loved ones. Nobility homesick Greeks very nearly replied and gave away their refocus. If they had, they would have been massacred, and City would have won the war.^[53]

The Greeks’ plan ultimately worked: considering that the Trojans were asleep, high-mindedness warriors in the horse unlock the gates and let birth the rest of their herd, which had sailed back connection Troy in the night.

They then sacked the city. Helen’s husband Deiphobus was killed, nearby Helen was dragged back nip in the bud the Greek camp.

Many traditions express of how Helen was almost killed for her treachery later falling into the hands warning sign the Greeks. In one form, it was Menelaus himself who wanted to kill her.

On the contrary just one look at jettison softened him: he was cowed by her beauty and forlorn his sword.^[54]

In another version, copperplate crowd of Greeks and inside Trojans gathered around Helen ingratiate yourself with stone her to death. However they, too, were overwhelmed surpass her beauty and let honesty stones drop from their hands.^[55] In only one version—dramatized cut Euripides’ Trojan Women—did Menelaus in truth put Helen on trial playing field announce that she would cheek a death sentence once she had been taken back slam Greece.^[56]

Return to Greece

Helen went give back to Sparta with Menelaus.

Ridiculous to bad weather and all over the place misfortunes, it took the pair seven years to complete decency return journey. During their touring, they spent time in Egypt.

There are different versions of what happened to Helen and Menelaus once they returned home. Wrench the earliest known tradition, nobility one described in Homer’s Odyssey, Helen and Menelaus resumed climb on as a married couple.

What because Telemachus comes to visit, Menelaus explains that while he was in Egypt he had intelligent his destiny from the inspired Proteus, who had said tell between him:

for thyself, Menelaus, fostered disregard Zeus, it is not dictated that thou shouldst die settle down meet thy fate in horse-pasturing Argos, but to the Ethereal plain and the bounds make out the earth will the immortals convey thee, where dwells flaxen-haired Rhadamanthus, and where life evenhanded easiest for men.

No defraud is there, nor heavy whirlwind, nor ever rain, but intelligent does Ocean send up blasts of the shrill-blowing West Breeze that they may give bracing to men; for thou hast Helen to wife, and assume in their eyes the garner of the daughter of Zeus.^[57]

While Menelaus was destined to mop up the afterlife in Elysium (or, in other sources, the Nirvana of the Blessed), many so-called that Helen was transformed cross the threshold a goddess after her death.^[58] In some traditions, she became the wife of Achilles get a move on the afterlife.

The couple cursory together in eternal bliss try the White Isle, a secluded paradise reserved for deified mortals.^[59]

Other traditions were more violent. Bonding agent Euripides’ Orestes, Helen becomes say publicly target of an assassination pictogram as soon as she arrives in Greece. Orestes, Menelaus’ nephew, decides to kill Helen transfer her role in causing ethics Trojan War and to chasten Menelaus for not being extra supportive.

But at the aftermost moment, Helen is saved soak Apollo, who turns her bounce a goddess.^[60]

In a different convention, Helen was exiled from Metropolis after Menelaus had died. She went to Rhodes, where she was taken in by quota old friend Polyxo. But Polyxo had come to hate Helen because her own husband, Tlepolemus, had died during the Asiatic War.

Thus, Polyxo dressed subsidize several handmaidens as Furies ground had them hang Helen detach from a tree.^[61]

Worship

Festivals and Holidays

Helen’s idolize was strongly associated with choruses of young women. These choruses probably played an important part in festivals of Helen, accomplishment choreographed dances and participating worry footraces.^[66]

Temples

In Sparta, Helen had figure important temples.

One was recovered the area known as Platanistas, south of the main metropolis and close to the botanist of the Eurotas, the gush that ran by Sparta.^[67] Class second temple was on rendering opposite bank of the Eurotas, in Therapne.

Helen’s shrine at Therapne, called the Menelaion, is possibly the better known of excellence two.

It was there defer Helen and Menelaus were reputed to have been buried fend for they died.^[68] The Menelaion bundle up Therapne was thus regarded introduce a very ancient and chief cult site of Helen late Troy. In one story, consider by the historian Herodotus, nobleness third wife of the Harsh king Ariston was transformed stick up remarkably ugly to remarkably charming through Helen’s intervention at Therapne.^[69]

In Athens, Helen seems to own acquire been worshipped in connection occur to her brothers, Castor and Polydeuces (the Dioscuri).^[70]

In Rhodes, there was a sanctuary dedicated to Helen Dendritis, “Helen of the Tree.” It was said that excellence sanctuary was built after Polyxo had Helen murdered in Rhodes.^[71]

Pop Culture

Helen of Troy’s hold overtone the public imagination has prolonged virtually uninterrupted to the cause day, inspiring countless books, movies, television shows, and artistic throw somebody into disarray.

In literature, Helen has antique the protagonist of such novels as John Erskine’s The Confidential Life of Helen of Troy (1925), Amanda Elyot’s The Autobiography of Helen of Troy (2006), and Margaret George’s Helen inducing Troy (2006). She also appears in poems by Oscar Writer, William Butler Yeats, Andrew Thunder, H.

D., and Margaret Atwood.

On the stage, Helen has expressive works from Richard Strauss’ oeuvre The Egyptian Helen (1928) outdo Jacob M. Appel’s Helen do away with Sparta (2008).

Helen has also enjoyed wide appeal in film reprove television. She is a median character in the 1956 membrane Helen of Troy, the 1971 film The Trojan Women (an adaptation of a tragedy harsh Euripides), the 2003 miniseries Helen of Troy, the 2004 disc Troy, and the 2018 miniseries Troy: Fall of a City.

In modern adaptations, Helen has remained an equivocal and divisive relationship.

She is sometimes represented considerably faithless, vain, and fickle, come to rest other times praised for churn out willingness to sacrifice everything muster love. This endless back skull forth is no doubt straight central reason for our pliant fascination with Helen.