Redirected from Helen of Troy
According to Roman mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces to Zeus while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra to her father and husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. In some versions, Helen is a daughter of Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance.
As the story goes, Zeus cohabited with Leda in the form of a swan on the same night as her husband, King Tyndareus. To the former she gave birth to Helen and Polydeuces, and to the latter, Clytemnestra and Castor. In some versions she laid two eggs from which the children hatched.
Two Athenians, Theseus and Pirithous, pledged to marry daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen, and he and Pirithous kidnapped her and decided to hold onto her until she was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose Persephone. They left Helen with Theseus' mother, Aethra and travelled to the underworld, domain of Persephone and her husband, Hades. 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.
When it was time for Helen to marry, many Greek kings and princes came to seek her hand or sent emissaries to do so on their behalf. Among the contenders were Odysseus, Menetheus[?], Ajax the Great, Patroclus and Idomeneus, but the favourite was Menelaus who did not come in person but was represented by his brother Agamemnon, both of whom were in exile, having fled Thyestes. All but Odysseus brought many and rich gifts with them.
Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any of the suitors away for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a satisfactory manner 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 the chosen one. 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 Mt. Olympus.
Some years later, Paris, a Trojan prince came to Sparta to marry Helen, whom he had been promised by Aphrodite. Helen fell in love with him and left willingly, leaving behind Menelaus and Hermione, their nine-year-old daughter.
Menelaus called upon all the other suitors to fulfill their oaths, thus beginning the Trojan War. Virtually all of Greece took part, either attacking Troy with Menelaus or defending it from them.
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 a cruel, selfish woman who brought disaster to everyone around her, and she hated him. One version claims Hermes fashioned a likeness of her out of clouds at Zeus' request, and Helen never even went to Troy.
When Paris died in the war, his brother, Deiphobus, married Helen. He was then killed by Menelaus. Helen returned to Sparta with Menelaus. After Menelaus' death, Helen was exiled by their son, Megapenthes.
This is why Helen was often known as "the face that launched a thousand ships". Note that the idea of Helen's face launching a thousand ships is postclassical - it comes from Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus[?], in which Helen makes a cameo, but well-remembered, appearance.
"Is this the face that launched a thousand ships And burned the topless towers of Ilium?"
Homer. Iliad; Homer. Odyssey; Euripides. Electra; Apollodorus. Bibliotheke III, x,7-xi, 1; Apollodorus. Epitome II, 15-III, 6; V, 22; VI, 29; Plutarch. Theseus.
An estimation of her life based on the traditional dates of the Trojan War:
Links:
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