HELEN, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD! #BLOGCHATTERA2Z
Helen of Troy - Wikimedia Commons
“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships/
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”
Christopher Marlowe – Dr Faust
Helen was born in Sparta, believed to have been fathered
by Zeus with Leda. Her siblings include Pollux and Castor, and Clytemnestra,
who later became her sister-in-law as well, due to circumstances.
Helen was considered the most beautiful woman in the
world. When she was of marriageable age, her father Tyndareus, was worried about
how to choose a suitable groom for her. Her beauty attracted myriad suitors and
Tyndareus did not want to offend any of them. Odysseus was one of them, but he came
with little wealth. Besides, he was already in love with Penelope and hence, he
suggested that once the decision was made about Helen’s future husband, the
others would take an oath to provide military aid to the lucky man in case
Helen was abducted, an oath which would prove to be useful in the ensuing
Trojan War.
Tyndareus chose Menelaus, the valiant Greek, for Helen.
He got his other daughter, Clytemnestra, married to Agamemnon, the older
brother of Menelaus.
Paris, the young and handsome Trojan prince, came to Menelaus’
court on a diplomatic mission. He took one look at Helen, fell in love with
her, and persuaded her to elope with him to Troy. However, there is a different
back story in certain accounts.
Helen and Paris - PICRYL
Paris was made the judge of a beauty contest among the
three main Greek goddesses – Aphrodite, Athena and Hera. Paris chose Aphrodite
who had promised to get him the affection of the most beautiful woman in the
world.
There is a kind of
dichotomy about whether Helen was an innocent victim or a sly, unfaithful wife.
According to the above version, Aphrodite put a spell on her so that she would
fall in love with Paris. Other accounts aver that she went with Paris of her
own accord.
The Trojan War could have been averted. It is said that
Menelaus approached Priam, the aged ruler of Troy, and asked him to hand Helen
back. However, Priam refused, even though he was aware of what his foolish
young son had done. Menelaus created a mighty army, including Helen’s former
suitors and went on to attack Troy. Agamemnon, his brother was the commander in
chief of the Greek army, and on the other side, Hector, the older brother of
Paris and son of Priam, led the Trojan troops.
The Trojan War went on for ten long years with mighty
warriors fighting on both sides. The tale of the Trojan Horse has been extolled
by many writers.
When Paris died, Helen was forced to marry his brother,
Deiphobus. However, Helen hid away his sword and betrayed him to Menelaus. The
war was eventually won by the Greek army, and Menelaus was determined to kill
Helen, the cause of the wasteful war. It is said that when he looked upon her
again, he was overpowered by her beauty, and took her back to Greece where they
lived happily ever after.
Homer extols Helen in the Iliad, which deals with the Trojan War. Later, he referred to her in the Odyssey as well. Euripides brought out a varied version of the tale in his play titled ‘Helen’. Decades later, in the 1600s, Shakespeare described her as a shallow woman whose personality did not live up to the ideal of beauty in his play ‘Troilus and Cressida.
The Trojan War - LinkedIn
Thus ends the saga of Helen of Troy, whose face launched a thousand ships!
Trivia:
Helen, and her brothers, Pollux and Castor, were later revered as the patron deities of sailors.
Books set in the Trojan War by Judith Starkston
Wikipedia
This post is a
part of Blogchatter
A2Z Challenge 2026.
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