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Helen is the face that launched a thousand ships. At the time of the Trojan war she was the most beautiful woman in the world. There is some question as to whether she is the most beautiful woman of all time. Her beauty is very important because it inspired the Trojan War that killed untold thousands of souls. Furthermore it is the center piece of the Greek myth. The exploits of the heroes and heroines of the Trojan War form the substance of the Greek stories that Greek religion was based upon for hundreds of years later. Hesiod describes Helen, "...others brought in boats over the great gulf of the sea to Troy for the sake of fair-haired Helen." He also refers to these warriors as "more just and superior, the godly race of men-heroes, who are called demigods..."
In Greek the name is Ἑλένης. Most anciently this means 'burn within' and is related to the Greek word for torch, 'ἑλένη', 'helene'. The name is from Indo-European 'bhel-1', 'To shine, flash, or burn' and 'en', 'within'. Notice that the meaning of the name seems to echo the passion of her life. The suggestion is that she got this name as a result of the myth and not at birth.
Helen of Troy
It is interesting to consider the qualities of beauty. They include truth, harmony, love, attractiveness, and delight. These are qualities that are to be important in the later idealism of the Greeks. In contrast war is anything but beautiful. It is almost the opposite. Though Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty she marries Ares, the god of war. It is as though these two opposites are warring for the attention of the souls who devote their lives to this contest. For the Trojan War is not just a battle for Troy, it is a battle of the gods for life itself and the souls of those who live it. And the stories that are generated are not just an adventure. They are an elaboration of the path a soul must take to participate in what is holy. It is, in truth, a story about what life is about and how to make it worthwhile.
The fact that a woman is the center of this story suggests that women are important and not secondary. In fact they are central to the whole scheme. But this was an embarrassment to the Greek men. The two sides of the Trojan conflict were not Ares and Aphrodite, they were Aphrodite and Athena. It was also an opposition of passion and reason. Worse yet Aphrodite is aligned against Athena and Hera. It is the story of the Judgement of Paris that one must read to get the full gist of this.
The story of Helen's birth is not that important to the Trojan tale but it does reinforce the cosmic nature of the story. The story is that Helen was hatched from an egg. This seems related to myths that occur in other cultures about a wind egg that produces creation. In this case the egg creates the world of the Trojan War. It was Zeus that decided to have sex with Leda as a swan to produce this egg. You can read about Leda to get more details of this story.
Leda guards the egg with Helen in it.
Leda was the wife of king Tyndareus of Sparta, and it fell to him to arrange Helen's upbringing and marriage. This he did with some anxiety because Herophile foretold in her oracles that Helen would be brought up in Sparta to be the ruin of Asia and of Europe, and that for her sake the Greeks would capture Troy.
When Helen was a young girl she danced at the temple of Artemis Orthia:
Helen dancing wearing a decorative girdle.
Theseus was so taken with Helen that he raped her and stole her away to Attica. One has to wonder about the effect of this experience on the young girl. Her brothers, Castor and Pollux, recovered her while Theseus was away. Theseus had left his mother to care for Helen. Castor and Pollux enslaved her and made her the servant of Helen. She was not recovered by the family of Theseus until she was freed during the fall of Troy.
Tyndarus was afraid that the many powerful suitors of Helen might attack him or Helen if they were disappointed. Tyndareus, having sacrificed a horse here, administered an oath to the suitors of Helen, making them stand upon the pieces of the horse. The oath was to defend Helen and him who might be chosen to marry her if ever they should be wronged. When he had sworn the suitors he buried the horse. Tyndarus then chose Menalaus as the husband of Helen. When Paris seduced Helen and took her to Troy, the oath bound the suitors of Helen to go after her.
There is little evidence that Helen had any choice but to go with Paris to Troy. Stories differ as to how much she cooperated. It is significant that before they went to Troy, Helen and Paris stopped in Egypt. One story has it that Helen never went to Troy, but stayed in Egypt. Helen had a double that went to Troy. This is a reasonable if not glamorous story. Helen was so famous that she could have used a double to allow her to go about without being harassed. It also seems illogical that Troy would have fought such a long and protracted war over a woman. But if they did not have her they could not give her back.
If she did go to Troy then she did not go alone. Clymene was with her. Clymene was not a slave. She was a relative of Menelaus. She probably went with Helen at Helen's request. She was not the only attendant of Helen. When Theseus raped Helen he put her in the care of his mother Aethra. When the Dioscouri took back Helen they captured Aethra as well. She became a slave of Helen who followed her to Troy. Acamas, Theseus' son went to Troy and recovered Aethra and was also given Clymene. So Clymene probably became the companion of Aethra. Also with these two was Laodice, daughter of Priam, who produced a son by Acamas. This son, Munitus, was raised by Aethra. After the fall of Troy Helen went to Egypt for 8 years. On her return to Sparta she had 3 attendants, Adreste, Alcippe, and Phylo. I do not know if these were slaves or not.
If Helen did go to Troy she was there for nine years before the Greek army arrived and was was there another ten years while the Trojan War was fought. Though Paris and Helen lived as man and wife for nineteen years there were no children produced. As far as is known Helen was accepted by the Trojan community and was well treated. But there are stories that she conspired with the Greeks. This may be true because her former husband, Meneleus did not kill her as he suggested he would. But even before Meneleus obtained Helen she was transferred to another Trojan when her husband Paris was killed.
Finally Troy fell and Meneleus thought about punishing Helen for the trouble she had caused. He was going to stab her with his sword when he caught sight of her beautiful breasts:
Helen in a Mycenaean flounced skirt
Once Helen and Meneleus got back together they traveled back to Sparta together. They were blown off course and ended up in Egypt. They remained there for eight years. Helen benefited from this stay because she learned about Egyptian drugs.
in the drama Orestes by Euripides Helen arrives in Nauplia, the port of Argos, and is able to talk to Electra just after Clytemnestra has been murdered by Orestes. She states, line 80, "I am truely sorry for the fate of my sister Clytemnestra, on whom I ne'er set eyes after I was driven by heaven-sent frenzy to sail on my didastrour voyage to Ilium; but now that I am parted from her I bewail our misfortunes." That she uses that port to get to Sparta suggests that at other times that port would have been used by Spartans. This also suggests that she might have visited her sister when she was in Sparta before. But the trip from Sparta to Nauplia was probably overland, a distance of 50 miles or more, and would have required several days. Later Sparta would have its own port and travel would have been quicker and easier by sea. Even so Sparta was nearly thirty miles from its port,Gythium, but the trip along the rived from Sparta to Glythium was flat and easy while the land route from Sparta to Nauplia was twisted and mountainous.
Since Helen caused the Trojan War by eloping with Paris, and since many lives were lost in this war you would think that someone would like to blame Helen and seek revenge. And so there are stories to this effect. One story has her outlive Meneleus and get ousted from Sparta by a bastard stepson. She was at least 50 by this time and probably much older. She went to live with Polyxo, an old friend, on the island of Rhodes. Since Polyxo's husband had been killed in the war Polyxo secretly hated Helen. She disguised her servants as Erinyes and had them hang Helen from a tree. This is clearly a crucifixion because Helen was later worshipped as the Goddess of the Tree in Rhodes.
Of course since Helen was the daughter of Zeus she was still beautiful at this age. Crucifixion was chosen because it was particularly horrible and was thought to pay the victim back for the damage caused. It also might prevent the victim from being buried which in turn would deprive them of immortality. The body might be left to be eaten by birds and would not be placed in a grave.
Visually it was also very satisfying for the persecutor. The victim would be stripped naked to humiliate her. If possible nails would be driven through each arm as they were strung out on the branches. Her feet would be crossed and nailed with one nail. Then she would be allowed to hang. The position of the arms made breathing difficult and the victim would gasp for breath. But in order to breathe she would have to pull on her arms and take the weight off her legs. This would cause the nails to excite the nerves in the arms causing great pain. After the breath the pain would come back in the legs. This pain would cause the victim to dance on the cross. Since the arms were held back and the legs crossed the dance would be very erotic and her naked beauty would be entertainment for any spectators. The position of the arms causes the breasts to push out and the position of the feet causes the body to assume a serpentine figure which is very aesthetic. As a result pictures of such a crucifixion are very popular. But they are so erotic that they are usually withheld from public view. The fact that Helen was so beautiful would make pictures of this scene very appealing and may, in fact, be the reason for the story.
Of course all attempts to deprive Helen of eternity were futile. The fact that she was later worshipped suggests that the crucifixion deified her. Sometimes the very pain of the crucifixion is thought to purify. History has not assigned the results of the Trojan War to any decision that Helen made. It was her beauty that was the factor and in this way she was the tool of Aphrodite. That a woman's body should have a value apart from her moral nature is a dilemma which has long plagued ethics with varied results. Should Helen be blamed for receiving and maintaining a beautiful body? Shouldn't the blame fall on the others who wished to possess this body? Helen is a properly passive female who does little to affect the great scheme of things and so is hard to morally blame. But that she may have become the victim of retribution may be symbolic of other evils that befall women. A woman may be styled a temptress, an instrument of temptation, a natural force that needs control, and yet she need not do anything to earn these epithets. Yet the man who is tempted, or controlling, must act to earn this distinction. Thus the ethics are applied with a double standard.
There is an historical record of Helen, but it is not consistent. Paul Carteledge discusses the various references in his book The Spartans on pages 48 - 56. The most important fact to be mentioned is that the ancient Spartans were very concerned about the story of Helen and acted upon it. They built a shrine to Helen at Therapne to the southeast of the ancient town. Helen served as a role model to them and defined a feminine standard that was important to them. And in this context there is no doubt that they modified the stories of Helen to suit their own politics.
Theodore Spyropoulos, a regional official of Greece’s Central Archaeological Council has stated that the homeric site of the palace of Meneleus is located on the acropolis of Pellana. This is situated on the hill "Palaiokastro" where recent excavations conducted brought into light remains of habitation, dated to the Early Helladic period. This conflicts with what the ancient Spartans believed as they had built the Meneleion on top of what they thought was the palace of Helen three miles northeast of Sparta.
To the southeast of Sparta at Therapne Helen was worshipped as a goddess. The site of this temple was investigated by Ross in 1833 and 1841, and by Kastriotis in 1889 and 1900. Archeological and historical references suggest that the Helen worshipped here was more of a goddess of vegetation and fertility associated with trees. The Helen of Homer may have represented a mortal person who had acquired the characteristics of this nature goddess.
Other than the fact that Helen of Troy was the most beautiful women in the world, no one really knows what she looked like. She lived about 800 years before anyone thought to paint her picture. But the Greeks provided a number of pictures of what they thought she looked like:
These pictures reflect the styles of the time of the artists. Society of the time of Helen was more like the Mycenaen or Minoan. Helen's dress was more likely to have been the skirt, girdle, and vest of Minoan times that the chiton or peplos of classical Greece.
Starring: Robert Wise , Rossana Podest…, With an appearance by Brigitte Bardot Director: Robert Wise Format: Color, Closed-captioned, HiFi Sound, Dolby, NTSC Rated: NR Studio: Warner Studios Video Release Date: July 10, 2001 VHS Features: NTSC format ASIN: 6304071787
Question: what was 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.
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: I am doing a country report on Greece and I need to right about a famous Greek women. Can you give me an adress for more info on Helen or you can just give info if ya want??
Answer: An index to more information is available at: Click here
Question: Please give a brief description of how war arised because of Helen of Troy and show me any potraiat of her if possible.
Answer: For a picture of Helen see above. Helen was so beautiful that her father was afraid that a disappointed suitor would cause a war so he made the suitors pledge to support the one he choose. When Paris (or Alexander) stole Helen, the pledge required the suitors to band together to bring her back.
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 favors 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: CAN YOU SHOW ME A PICUTER OF HELEN?
Answer: Click on the links above to see the pictures.
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 color 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: What was the beauty contest all about?
Answer: Click on the Menu Directory below then click on Judgment of Paris.
Question: Why is Helen known as the face that launched a thousand ships?
Answer: When she was stolen off to Troy that many ships chased after her.
Question: who was she
Answer: see above.
Question: Was Helen of Troy a sexy lady?
Answer: She was very sexy.
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: What sort of role model does Helen of Troy represent?
Answer: She is the kind of woman men like to read about in adventure stories. Women like to read about her in scandal magazines.
Question: What would be a good character analysis of Helen of Troy?
Answer: Helen was a tool of Aphrodite.
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: Goddess of the earth
Answer: Gaia.
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: Click on Menu directory below then click on architecture.
Question: can you please show me pictures of "Helen of Troy"?
Answer: Click on the links above to see the pictures.
Question: A summery of Helen of Troy in The Odyssey, Agamemnon, and The Aeneid. Thanks
Answer: In the Odyssey Helen is the embittered tool of Aphrodite. I do not find her in the Agamemnon. The Aeneid is a Roman work and outside of my area.
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 enamored 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 died.
Question: What is the role of Helen in the Odyssey?
Answer: She is the face that launched a thousand ships. Then she endured the sack of Troy. She traveled with Meneleus some ten years before she returned home. She is still beautiful but she is 59 years old when Telemachus visits her. She has much experience and much to tell.
Question: Question: why did The Trogen War start?
Answer: The oldest explanation is that Zeus wanted to create a great war because there were too many souls on earth and the weight on Gaia was too great. The birth of Helen and marriage of Peleus and Thetis were the steps taken to accomplish this.
Question: What role did Helen play in the political and educational life of ancient Greece?
Answer: Helen does not seem to have considered the political consequences of her acts, and she certainly is not given credit for those consequences. But she served as a central subject in the literature of the time and in much literature since. This literature has been central to the educational quest of many ever since.
Question: Are there any magazines or books that provide comments on Helen's impact on the politics and education of the ancient Greeks?
Answer: INSIDE THE WALLS OF TROY, by Clemence McLaren
Question: Can you go a bit more in depth on the philosophical meaning of helen?
Answer:
Question: Was it true that Helen Gave birth to Theusus 's child or was that a myth?
Answer: All we have concerning the events surrounding the Trojan War are stories. Some are consistent and others conflict. Lately we have been getting archeological evidence that supports the grosser aspects of these stories, but the details remain unsupported. The story about Helen giving birth to a child of Theseus is possible but not among the most widely accepted stories. The main conflict relates to the chronology of Helen as compared to the chronology of Theseus. Helen probably would have been too young to have become pregnant. Then one wonders about the effect of such a pregnancy on her later desirability. Could she have been the most beautiful woman in the world after becoming pregnant at such a young age? Then why did she give up the child?
Question: how can I make a speech on Helen of Troy interesting
Answer: You are lucky because you are starting with an interesting subject. Helen is one of the most interesting women who ever lived. All you have to concentrate on is your presentation. Here is some help: Giving Speeches.
Question: Would you say that Helen of Troy's only flaw was that she brought the demise of Troy?
Answer: It is not clear that Helen of Troy had any flaw at all. She may even be a goddess. Her beauty caused things to happen but it is not clear that she was responsible for her beauty. Nor does it make sense to blame her for her beauty. Rather you must blame the men who tried to possess her beauty, or the women who were jealous of her.
Question: Id like to compare beauty concept of those days and today in the example of Helen. Who are the modern Helens for you?
Answer: There are plenty of web sites dealing with the most beautiful women in the world or the sexiest women in the world and you can compare these women to what you know about Helen. Remember though that Helen never participated in a beauty contest. It was Aphrodite, and she seems to have cheated.
Question: who is the antagonist in the story?
Answer: Hera, the goddess of marriage, is not happy with Helen who forsakes her husband Menelaus to run off with her lover Paris. Aphrodite is the protagonist who loves Helen because she follows her love.
Question: what is the central conflict in this story?
Answer: Aphrodite has caused Helen to leave her husband and run off with Paris. Hera and Athena help Melelaus to get Helen back.
Question: Do you think this story could happen in real life?
Answer: The Greeks thought it did. The real question is its meaning.
Question: the abduction of helen
Answer: Theseus saw Helen dancinng at the shrine of Artemis Orthia and stole her away because he wanted to marry a daughter of Zeus. He may have raped her, too, and Iphigenia was the possible result. Theseus left Helen in the care of his mother Aethra and left for an adventure. The brothers of Helen, the Dioscuri, young as they were, came with an army and rescured Helen and captured Aethra, who became Helen's slave. Aethra was not released until the fall of Troy.
Question: What did Helen do to be admire or disliked by people?
Answer: Helen had to do little or nothing in most senses. As the most beautiful woman in the world she was the tool of Aphrodite. Men acted to possess her. They even fought a war over her. All she did was maintain her reputation. Some blamed her for the Trojan War, but this is hardly fair. Some disliked her because their relatives died in the Trojan War. She maintained her beauty, grace, and charm, long into her life. And in the end that is what her life was all about.
Question: Give some reasons for admiring Hector in this story?
Answer: There are many reasons for admiring Hector. He is loyal, strong, brave, and a good leader. As long as he his alive Troy is safe. It is not clear in the Trojan war who has the moral upper hand. Achilles certainly has no moral superiority. The Iliad can also be called the Tragedy of Hector.
Question: How did Zeus seduced Helen's mother?
Answer: From Euripides' Helen: "My own fatherland, Sparta, is not without fame, and my father is Tyndareus; but there is indeed a story that Zeus flew to my mother Leda, taking the form of a bird, a swan, [20] which accomplished the deceitful union, fleeing the pursuit of an eagle, if this story is true. My name is Helen;... " line 7.
Question: What is Helen in Roman?
Answer: The name 'Helen' means light. The Latin form of Helen is Helena as the Greek form is Helene. The English form is Ellen. Notice that the Greeks call themselves Hellenes. This is because the trace themselves from a male ancestor named Hellen. Helene is female while Hellen is male.
Question: Is Helen of Troy a tragic figure?
Answer: Not really. But Euripides did write a tragedy Helen
Question: What was Helen of Troy's main stage of life and when did she die?
Answer: An estimate of dates in Helen's life:
Question: Do you know what happened after Helen and Paris got married?
Answer: This article reference states that Paris and Helen were married after they arrived in Troy. The Trojan War did not start for another 9 years. Paris was a prince so they must have set up housekeeping and started entertaining guests. There must have been many parties where Paris introduced Helen to the other Trojans who were eager to get to know her out of curiosity. Helen may have had affairs with other men. She may have even had an affair with Corythus, a son of Oenone by Paris. Paris may have killed his own son when he found this out. reference
Question: Please give me a brief description of the obvious differences between how Helen was depicted in the Iliad, compared to the Odyssey.
Answer: In the Iliad Helen was depicted as a princess in a foreign land who is the prize of a war. In the Odyssey she is a Queen at home.
Question: description of what helen of troy looked like eg what color eyes etc and what were her personality traits
Answer: Helen was the most beautiful of women. She was charming and graceful. I find no more accurate description of her. She may have been blond with blue eyes as many of the Mycenaeans were. But she also could have had black hair and hazel eyes with ringlets in her hair as the Minoan women did. If she came over with Athena from Africa she would have been dark skinned with dark and hair. But she had fine features which made her the most beautiful woman in the world.
Question: What does Aphrodite's magical girdle look like
Answer: There are many variations of this. Originally it probably looked like an apron that was worn over the pubic area. But it has been depicted as a belt, a vest, or a crossed sash. Last of all it was depicted as just naked skin. Helen had no need of the magic girdle because she was so beautiful.
Question: who is Helen married too?
Answer: Many men are reported to have married Helen:
Question: why people think helen was beautiful?
Answer: We know very little about the specifics of Helen. All we know is that she was so beautiful that many men lost their lives over her. But it was not her doing. She was so beautiful that men want to posses her very badly. They were willing to commit crimes to posses her. All she did was to stay beautiful. One of her beauty secrets is that she was the daughter of Zeus. Sons and daughters of Zeus were all handsome and beautiful.
Some say Helen is a goddess. If this is true she has another beauty secret. She can read your mind and transform herself into your notion of beauty. All the goddesses could do this.
Question: What did Odysseus get in return of King Tyndareus
Answer: While he was among the wooers of Helen Odysseus met and fell in love with Penelope. When he helped the king solve his problem with Helen the king arranged for Odysseus to marry Penelope.
Question: Do you know where I can get pictures of the Trojan Women?
Answer: Pictures of the Ancient Greek drama The Trojan Women:
Question: Does Helen have any symbols?
Answer: Goddesses have identifying symbols but mortals like Helen do not.
Question: did she have the same respect from the people after she was stolen?
Answer: She was just a sex object and not that well respected. But Priam respected her and he was king of Troy.
Question: wa she treated well by her husband?
Answer: She was possessed and not that well treated.
Question: Was Helen nude
Answer: There was no law against nudity but no status in it either. Ancient Greeks, especially at the time of Helen did not wear clothes that often. They saved their clothes for formal occaisions. Around her house and in her court she was probably often nude, but she was not nude in public. Some of the materials in the clothes were thin and almost transparent and the beautiful women wore these revealing materials, but they were not nude. But some looked almost nude.
Question: helen of troy's lover
Answer: As the most beautiful woman in the world Helen had many lovers, only a few of which were recorded. When she was very young Theseus raped her and had a child by her. Later Paris raped her and took her to Troy where they lived as man and wife for 19 years. After Paris was killed his relatives fought for Helen and Deiphobus won her. She was given to Meneleus by her legal father and there is some indication that he loved her because he did not kill her after the Trojan war.
Question: Where can you get Pictures of Helena being Crucified
Answer: I have provided you a picture of Helen being crucified which is posed with a doll. Use of a real girl probably would violate laws relating to pornography and decency. If the picture was suitably realistic then it might be considered psychologically harmful. One wonders what could be accomplished with such a picture. If it would help keep women from being raped, tortured, and killed, it might be worth it. But if the effect was the opposite it would be very sad. How could you know the result beforehand?
Pictures of Jesus often show him being crucified. For some this is a source of great consolation. But for others this is only an image of perverted sex. Whether the crucifixion of Helen would have a similar effect is not known. But many would consider the fact that Helen was later deified to be a threat to their belief in Jesus. This might raise cries of heresy and Satanism. For these reasons I think pictures of the crucifiction of Helen would be extremely rare, if not nonexistent.
Question: Is Helen real or is she a myth?
Answer: The ancient Greeks thought she was real. We have no independent confirmation such as a tombstone or other remains. That is why we refer to her stories as myth. But many of the details of ancient Greek myth have been confirmed. It is probably better to assume she was real and understand that the stories about her might not be totally accurate. It is quite wrong to assume that her stories are just made up.
Question: How was the culture like in the 12th and 13th century B.C. (around the time of the Trojan War)?
Answer: You may find this out by studying the Mycenaean culture. The works of Homer and Hesiod are not considered a reliable source of this information.
Question: when was helen born and when did she die
Answer: An estimate of dates in Helen's life:
Question: does helen have a specific role in the odyssey ? what is her role in the society? is she protrayed different from males physically, mentally and socially? does she have any power? does her representation tell us anything about the society of men who produced her?
Answer: Helen is a person who is revealed in a number of ancient works, none of which can be considered definitive. Her representation in the Odyssey contrasts even with her representation in the Iliad. But she provides a strong thread to the many tragic events of the Trojan War. She is portrayed as a queen, but in spite of the trappings of a queen she lacks fertility. One wonders not only about her present beauty, but the futility of the pursuit of that beauty in the past. She is apologetic. That beauty is the key to her powers of the past, but it seemed to be a power over which she exercised little control. Now she has been given the power to drug and forget the past. There are many things we want to forget. But we do not want to forget the heroic deeds of Odysseus.
Question: Who was Helen of Troy's Greek husband
Answer: All the many husbands of Helen of Troy should be considered Greek. Theseus, Meneleus, and Achilles were mainland European Greeks while Paris and Deiphobus were Asian Greeks.
Question: what are helens powers?
Answer: Helen is a mortal and has no special powers. She had the same powers of a normal woman of today.
Question: what are helens powers?
Answer: Helen is a mortal and has no special powers. She had the same powers of a nomal woman of today.
Question: what are some of the qualities,pwers,representetions,associations for helen????
Answer: Helen is described as the most beautiful woman in the world, but beyond that few details are filled in. The fact that Home describes her beautiful breasts suggests that she wears the garb of a Mycenaean priestess, not the peplos or chiton that usually adorns her. The most common association is with the egg that was part of her birth. Because one myth states that in the end she was crucified on a tree she is sometimes associated with trees.
Question: i want to know did helen of troy died???
Answer: Homer wrote of her as though she was a mortal and so we think she must have died. The site Pausanias dubbed Therapne is well known in Sparta today as the Menelaion: the shrine of Helen and Menelaos. This shrine is on an older temple and Mycenaean palace which may be the palace of Menelaos. Pausanias thought that the older temple contained the tomb of Helen. But her remains have not been identified. Some stories report that she was forced to leave Sparta when Menelaus died and when she sought refuge on Rhodes and was crucified there. But then she was worshipped there. She was also worshipped in other locations, perhaps including Memphis in Egypt, where she might have visited. With the information that we now have we can say that Helen is either a mythical mortal or a mythical goddess. Unless better archaeological remains are found this question will never be answered.
Statement: The 'Hellenes', as the Greeks call themselves, are named after Hellen, a male, and not Helen, a female. The name 'Helen' most likely relates to the Greek word 'helene' which means torch and thus bright or beautiful. The name 'Hellen' has no such connection. Hellen may mean 'wished for' from Indo-European 'wel-2', 'To wish, will' and 'lei-1', 'to get'. Though Helen is important to the soul of the ancient Greeks her name does not verify that conclusion. Likewise little can be made of the name 'Paris', The son of Priam is sometimes called 'Paris' (means well-balanced in Greek) and sometimes called 'Alexandros' (means leader of men in Greek). The name of Paris, France is unrelated. It comes from the word 'Parisiorum' which means '(swamps) of the Parisii'.a,/pa.
Question: It must have been quite lonely for Helena when she returned home. Her twin sister gone, her two twin brothers long gone, and I think her father had died ages ago too; right? Was Leda still alive? Probably not. Well, she did have a daughter of course; Hermione. But wasn't that girl only 9 years ago when her mom left? And isn't that probably another tragical chapter in this whole Greek episode? That girl? What a terrible thing! Dramatic! Her mom suddenly abducted, and they probably never even had the change to say goodbye; otherwise Helena would have taken her along. So her mom is suddenly gone. Then her dad leaves too, because he needs to get mom home. But he doesn't come back either. They return 27 years later. So between her 9th and 36th year, Hermione didn't have parents. So when they DID come home, they must have been total strangers to eachother. They hadn't seen their daughter growing up through puberty, adolescence and adulthood. And why did Hermione marry Orrestes? That seems so illogical too. How is it possible Helena agreed to that? Or didn't she have a say in it? It was Helena's cousin! So Hermione and Orrestes were full cousins for starters! Which isn't so bad, but he was also the one who killed Clytemnestra! It's strange that Helena wanted the man who murdered her twin sister as a son-in-law.... No, I think Helena's life must have been quite lonely after they returned home. Everyone she must have loved was deceased or murdered....
Answered: When Helen left Herminone went to be with Clytemnestra. There she met Orestes and they fell in love. But they were separated when Orestes was spirited away by Elektra. Orestes went to a lot of trouble to get her back so he could marry her. He may have even killed her husband to free her up. The marriage of Orestes and Hermione was plainly a love story between Orestes and Hermione that no one else could control. Helen was not that lonely when she returned to Sparta after the Trojan war and her trip to Egypt. Menelaus returned wealthy and Helen had several companions and lacked nothing. She also had drugs she could use to forget the past.
Question: Do you know anything about the period between the two marriages of Helena and Clytemnestra, and the moment Helena was abducted? Were Mycene and Sparta far away from eachother? Did they see eachother regularly? Do you think Helena was involved in Iphigenea's upbringing somehow? And do you know if they travelled together? Over the islands?
Answer: Argos and Sparta are about 45 miles apart. To visit her sister Helen could have been carried in a liter (palanquin) in perhaps two days. By chariot this might take 3 hours. But travel overland was dangerous and hard as there were no roads and lots of bandits. Telemachus visits in the Odyssey but visiting women were not that common. Antiope traveled and just got into trouble. When women married they seemed to sever their connections to their relatives and form new ones whith their husband's relatives. Going outside the home seemed a threat to their security. But even though they did not travel there were ways of communicating. Letters could be sent by messengers. In the beginning of the Agamemnon by Aeschylus a watchman watches for a signal flame that indicates a message from Troy. Such a signal system can be used to transfer messages using semaphores. It seems odd that such a system would be set up for just one message. So messages might have been exchanged in this way between Mycenae and Sparta.
Question: why is helen of troy sometimes referred to as "the face that launched a thousand ships"?
Answer: This is a quote from Christopher Marlowe, in Doctor Faustus (variously dated between 1590 and 1604), referring to Helen of Troy, or as Marlowe had it 'Helen of Greece':
"Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss."
At the time Marlow wrote these lines women had to be judged by their face as that was all the men saw. He is referring to facts that came down to him from Greek myths. Most of the myths were written down around 700 BCE when Homer was writing. Helen lived from about 1214 BCE until about 1146 BCE. These were Mycenaean times and there is some question about how much was revealed by women during Mycenean times when Helen lived.
In general the myths of ancient Greece state that at the time of the Trojan War, Helen, the daughter of of Tyndereus and Leda, was believed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She may have been the most beautiful woman of all time. Men desire a beautiful woman and since Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world men desired her the most. Tyndereus realized what was happening with Helen and so he agreed with Odysseus that all the suitors of Helen should pledge to defend the suitor that won her hand against anyone else that tried to possess her. Paris of Troy was able to get Aphrodite to give him the love of Helen. So when he went to Sparta Helen was willing to leave with him and go to Troy. So the suitors of Helen were pledged to help Meneleus recover her. Even so it took 10 years for the expedition to Troy to be organized. Finally about 1000 ships left for Troy.
There are no contemporary pictures of Helen and the descriptions of her are limited. Homer refers to her as "white-armed Helen" in book III of the Iliad. In the Odyssey she is described as 'looking like Artemis of the golden arrows". But the details of her beauty are left to our imagination. So all we can say is that her beauty was a cause of the Trojan war.
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