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Helen

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Ancient History,
Classical History and Mythology; Historical figures

   In Greek mythology, Helen ( Greek: Ἑλένη, Helénē), better known as
   Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda and the wife of
   Menelaus, king of Sparta. She was the sister of Castor, Polydeuces, and
   Clytemnestra. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War.
   Helen of Troy by Evelyn de Morgan, 1898
   Helen of Troy by Evelyn de Morgan, 1898

Etymology

   The name's etymology is open to speculation. If it has an Indo-European
   etymology, it is possibly a suffixed form of a root *wel- "to turn,
   roll" or "to cover, enclose" (compare Varuna, Veles), or of *sel- "to
   flow, run". The latter possibility would allow comparison to Vedic
   Saraṇyū, who is abducted in RV 10.17.2, a parallel suggestive of an
   Proto-Indo-European abduction myth.

   The name is in any case unrelated to Hellenes, as is sometimes claimed
   ("Hellenes" being from the root *sed- "to sit, settle").

Life of Helen

Birth

   In most sources, including the Iliad and the Odyssey, Helen is the
   daughter of Zeus and Leda. Euripides' play Helen, written in the late
   5th century BC, is the earliest source to report the most familiar
   account of Helen's birth: that Zeus, in the form of a swan, was chased
   by an eagle, and sought refuge with Leda. The swan gained her
   affection, and the two mated. Leda then produced an egg, from which
   Helen was born.

   On the other hand, in the Cypria, one of the Cyclic Epics, Helen was
   the daughter of Zeus and the goddess Nemesis. The date of the Cypria is
   uncertain, but it is generally thought to preserve traditions that date
   back to at least the 7th century BC. In the Cypria, Nemesis did not
   wish to mate with Zeus. She therefore changed shape into various
   animals as she attempted to flee Zeus, finally becoming a goose. Zeus
   also transformed himself into a goose and mated with Nemesis, who
   produced an egg from which Helen was born. Presumably in the Cypria
   this egg was given to Leda; in the 5th century comedy Nemesis by
   Cratinus, Leda was told to sit on an egg so that it would hatch, and
   this is no doubt the egg produced by Nemesis. Asclepiades and
   Pseudo-Eratosthenes related a similar story, except that Zeus and
   Nemesis became swans instead of geese. Timothy Gantz has suggested that
   the tradition that Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan derives from
   the version in which Zeus and Nemesis transformed into birds.

Abduction by Theseus

   Two Athenians, Theseus and Pirithous, pledged to wed daughters of Zeus.
   Theseus chose Helen, and Pirithous vowed to marry Persephone, the wife
   of Hades. Theseus and Pirithous kidnapped Helen and left her with
   Theseus' mother, Aethra, while they travelled to the underworld, the
   domain of Hades, to kidnap Persephone. Hades pretended to offer them
   hospitality and set a feast. As soon as the pair sat down, snakes
   coiled around their feet and held them there. Helen was subsequently
   rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux, who returned her to Sparta.

   In most accounts of this event, Helen was quite young; Hellanicus of
   Lesbos said she was seven years old and Diodorus makes her ten years
   old. On the other hand, Stesichorus said that Iphigeneia was the
   daughter of Theseus and Helen, which obviously implies that Helen was
   of childbearing age. In most sources, of course, Iphigeneia is the
   daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, but Duris of Samos and other
   writers followed Stesichorus' account.

Marriage to Menelaus

   When it was time for Helen to marry, many kings and princes from around
   the world came to seek her hand or sent emissaries to do so on their
   behalf. Among the contenders were Odysseus, Menestheus, Ajax the Great,
   Patroclus and Idomeneus, Agamemnon, both of whom were in exile, having
   fled Thyestes. All but Odysseus brought many rich gifts with them.

   Tyndareus would not choose a suitor, or send any of the suitors away,
   for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus
   promised to solve the problem if Tyndareus would support him in his
   courting of Penelope, the daughter of Icarius. Tyndareus readily agreed
   and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the
   suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband
   against whoever should quarrel with him. This stratagem succeeded and
   Helen and Menelaus were married. Following Tyndareus' death, Menelaus
   became king of Sparta because the only male heirs, Castor and
   Polydeuces, had died and ascended to Mount Olympus.

Suitors of Helen

   Several lists of her suitors were compiled, since the suitors of Helen
   were later the heroes of the Trojan War. This one is from Apollodorus:

   Odysseus, son of Laertes; Diomedes, son of Tydeus; Antilochus, son of
   Nestor; Agapenor, son of Ancaeus; Sthenelus, son of Capaneus;
   Amphimachus, son of Cteatus; Thalpius, son of Eurytus; Meges, son of
   Phyleus; Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus; Menestheus, son of Peteos;
   Schedius and Epistrophus, sons of Iphitus; Polyxenus, son of
   Agasthenes; Peneleos, son of Hippalcimus; Leitus, son of Alector; Ajax,
   son of Oileus; Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Ares; Elephenor, son of
   Chalcodon; Eumelus, son of Admetus; Polypoetes, son of Perithous;
   Leonteus, son of Coronus; Podalirius and Machaon, sons of Aesculapius;
   Philoctetes, son of Poeas; Eurypylus, son of Evaemon; Protesilaus, son
   of Iphiclus; Menelaus, son of Atreus; Ajax and Teucer, sons of Telamon;
   Patroclus, son of Menoetius.

   This list is not complete; Apollodorus earlier mentions Cinyras king of
   Cyprus and Enarophorus and later mentions Idomeneus king of Crete
   Another list was compiled by Hesiod and, later by Hyginus.

Seduction by Paris

   Helen and Paris, by Jacques-Louis David, 1788
   Helen and Paris, by Jacques-Louis David, 1788

   Some years later, Paris, a Trojan prince, came to Sparta to marry
   Helen, whom he had been promised by Aphrodite after he had chosen her
   as the most beautiful of the goddesses, earning the wrath of Athena and
   Hera. Helen fell in love with him, as the goddess had promised. Some
   sources say that Helen willingly left behind her husband Menelaus and
   Hermione, their nine-year-old daughter, to be with her new love, but,
   since Aphrodite promised Helen to Paris, there is some ambiguity about
   whether or not Helen went willingly.

   Helen's relationship with Paris varies depending on the source of the
   story. In some, she loved him dearly (perhaps caused by Aphrodite, who
   had promised her to Paris). In others, she was portrayed as his
   unwilling captive in Troy, or as a cruel, selfish woman who brought
   disaster to everyone around her, and she hated him. In the version used
   by Euripides in his play Helen, Hermes fashioned a likeness of her out
   of clouds at Zeus's request, and Helen never even went to Troy, having
   spent the entire war in Egypt. In all, she is described as being of
   magnificent beauty.

Fall of Troy

   When he discovered that his wife was missing, Menelaus called upon all
   the other suitors to fulfill their oaths, thus beginning the Trojan
   War. Almost all of Greece took part, either attacking Troy with
   Menelaus or defending it from them.

   Late in the Trojan War, Paris was killed by Philoctetes. After Paris
   died, his brother, Deiphobus, married Helen until he was killed by
   Menelaus.

   Menelaus had demanded that only he should slay his unfaithful wife;
   but, when he raised his sword to do so, the sight of her beauty caused
   him to let the sword drop from his hand.

Herodotus

   According to Herodotus Helen never went to Troy. Paris was forced to
   stop in Egypt on his way home. While there, his servants told the
   Egyptians that Paris had kidnapped the wife of Menelaus, who had
   offered Paris hospitality. The Egyptians scolded Paris and informed him
   that they were confiscating all the treasure he had stolen (including
   Helen) until Menelaus came to claim them and that Paris had three days
   to leave their shores.

Fate

   Helen returned to Sparta and lived for a time with Menelaus, where she
   was encountered by Telemachus in The Odyssey. According to another
   version, used by Euripides in his play Orestes, Helen had long ago left
   the mortal world by then, having been taken up to Olympus almost
   immediately after Menelaus's return.

   According to Pausanias the geographer (3.19.10.):

   "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, 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."

   Tlepolemus was a son of Heracles and Astyoche. Astyoche was a daughter
   of Phylas, King of Ephyra who was killed by Heracles. Tlepolemus was
   killed by Sarpedon on the first day of fighting in the Iliad.
   Nicostratus was a son of Menelaus by his concubine Pieris, an Aetolian
   slave. Megapenthes was a son of Menelaus by his concubine Tereis, no
   further origin mentioned.

Trivia

   Inspired by the line "Was this the face that launched a thousand
   ships...?" from Marlowe's play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus,
   Isaac Asimov jocularly coined the unit millihelen to mean the amount of
   beauty that can launch one ship.
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