November 18, 1998

Perhaps one of the most well known tales of ancient Greek mythology is that of Helen of Troy. Many believe that her spellbinding beauty played a key role in one of the most famous battles of all time – the Trojan War. She symbolizes the Greeks’ view that attractiveness, although a superficial aspect of someone, is a strong force which can bring with it the power to corrupt someone’s actions.

Helen was the daughter of Zeus (the most powerful of all Greek gods) and Leda, wife of Spartan King Tyndareus. Legend has it that Helen hatched from the egg of a swan. Castor and Pollux were her two brothers. As a small child, Helen was kidnapped from her home in Greece by Theseus, a well-known hero in mythology who was believed to have wanted to make Helen his wife once she was grown.

She grew to become what was considered the most beautiful woman in all of Greece, one who enjoyed socializing with and courting a wide variety of suitors. Due to her beauty, Helen could easily marry into royalty, and thus wed Menelaus, King of Sparta. She served as the King’s beautiful wife, and aided him in ruling his kingdom. Under the spell of the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, Helen agreed to desert her husband and elope with Paris, a Trojan prince. Thus, King Menelaus sent hundreds of his Greek soldiers into battle with Paris, in what came to be called the Trojan War. Helen, the prime cause of the war in the first place, became known as "the face that launch’d a thousand ships" (Durant 83). After the Trojan War, Helen returned to live in Sparta as Menelaus’ queen.

Due to her much debated role in the Trojan war, Helen has been the source of many literary allusions. In Shakespeare’s play Troilus and Cressida, the actions of Helen during the Trojan War are vividly portrayed on stage. The Greek lyricist Sappho used the story of Helen’s romance with Paris as the basis for her songs and poems paying tribute to a woman named Anaktoria. Alkaois, a Greek lyricist from Lesbos, alluded to the story of Helen of Troy as he expressed his views on morality through his works of literature.

Monica Lewinsky is a modern-day female whose actions parallel those of Helen of Troy. Just as Helen’s affair with Paris caused the outbreak of a brutal war, Lewinsky’s relationship with a United States President brought on a social uproar of criticism, debate, and shock, sending American citizens, and the media, into a frenzied battle of opinions. Helen’s unfaithfulness to her husband caused the Greeks to question the morals and scruples of Trojan leader Paris; Lewinsky’s affair with President Clinton caused people everywhere to consider the state of ethical standards in American leadership and society. Certain people view Lewinsky and Helen as innocent young victims, drawn helplessly to the temptation of an affair. On the contrary, others feel that both are promiscuous, deceitful, and have no respect for the effects of their actions on others.

Along with different opinions of Helen, there are also contradicting versions of her story. Some legends say that Zeus had an affair with Nemesis, the goddess of fate, who in turn gave Leda the egg from which Helen was born. Other versions of the story report that Helen was not the only one stolen from Greece at the time of the Trojan War, but one alongside four other beautiful women. Io was abducted by the Egyptians; Europa, Phoenicia, and Medea were stolen by the Greeks.

The story of Helen of Troy demonstrates how literature connects with history. Contradicting viewpoints developed around one character, such as Helen, can provide for a variety of interpretations of history, such as that of the Trojan War. Helen herself sparks a lively debate on women and the moral standards by which they are judged, providing a source of entertainment and food for thought for students of all ages.

Bibliography

Boyce, Charles. Shakespeare A to Z. New York: Roundtable

Press, Inc., 1990.

Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology. New York:

Random House, 1998.

Durant, Will. Age of Reason Begins. New York: Simon

and Schuster, 1961.

Author Unknown. "Helen of Troy". Microsoft Encarta

Encyclopedia. 1997.

Olesker, Katie. (1998, November). Conflicting Views of

Helen. Women of Antiquity. Available: http:// www.

perseus.tufts.edu/classes/Kop.html

Shelmerdine, Cynthia W. "Helen of Troy". World Book

Encyclopedia. 1998.