Helen of Troy Essay Sample free essay sample

In Greek mythology. Helen of Troy was the most beautiful adult female in the universe. A girl of the God Zeus* . she is best known for the portion she played in doing the Trojan War* . a narrative told by Homer in the Iliad ] and the Odyssey ] . Some bookmans suggest that Helen was besides a really ancient goddess associated with trees and birds. Birth and Early Life. Some myths say that Helen’s female parent was Leda. the married woman of King Tyndareus of Sparta* . Others name Nemesis. the goddess of retaliation. as her female parent. Helen had a sister Clytemnestra. who subsequently became the married woman of King Agamemnon* of Mycenae. and duplicate brothers Castor and Pollux. known as the Dioscuri. Narratives claiming Leda as Helen’s female parent state how Zeus disguised himself as a swan and raped the Spartan queen. Leda so produced two eggs. From one came Helen and her brother Pollux. Clytemnestra and Castor emerged from the other. Other versions of the myth say that Zeus seduced Nemesis. and she laid the two eggs. A shepherd discovered them and gave them to Queen Leda. who tended the eggs until they hatched and raised the kids as her ain. In some fluctuations of this fable. Helen and Pollux were the kids of Zeus. but Clytemnestra and Castor were really the kids of Tyndareus. When Helen was merely 12 old ages old. the Grecian hero Theseus* kidnapped her and planned to do her his married woman. He took her to Attica in Greece and locked her away under the attention of his female parent. Helen’s brothers Castor and Pollux rescued her while Theseus was off and brought her dorsum to Sparta. Harmonizing to some narratives. before Helen left Attica. she had given birth to a girl named Iphigenia. Some clip after Helen returned to Sparta. King Tyndareus decided that it was clip for her to get married. Suitors came from all over Greece. trusting to win the celebrated beauty. Many were powerful leaders. Tyndareus worried that taking one suer might anger the others. who could do problem for his lan d. Among those seeking to get married Helen was Odysseus* . the male monarch of Ithaca. Odysseus advised Tyndareus to hold all the suers take an curse to accept Helen’s pick and promise to back up that individual whenever the demand should originate. The suers agreed. and Helen chose Menelaus. a prince of Mycenae. to be her hubby. Helen’s sister Clytemnestra was already married to Menelaus’s older brother. Agamemnon. The Trojan War. For a piece. Helen and Menelaus lived merrily together. They had a girl and boy. and Menelaus finally became the male monarch of Sparta. But their life together came to a sudden terminal. Paris. a prince of Troy. traveled to Sparta on the advice of the goddess Aphrodite* . She had promised him the most beautiful adult female in the universe after he proclaimed her the â€Å"fairest† goddess. When Paris saw Helen. he knew that Aphrodite had kept her promise. While Menelaus was off in Crete. Paris took Helen back to Troy. Some narratives say Helen went volitionally. seduced by Paris’s appeals. Others claim that Paris kidnapped her and took her by force. When Menelaus returned place and discovered Helen gone. he called on the leaders of Greece. who had sworn to back up him if necessary. The Greeks organized a great expedition and set canvas for Troy. Their reaching at Troy marked the beginning of the Trojan War. During the war. Helen’s understandings were divided. At times. she helped the Trojans by indicating out Grecian leaders. At other times. nevertheless. she sympathized with the Greeks and did non bewray them when chances to make so originate. Helen had a figure of kids by Paris. but none survived babyhood. Paris died in the Trojan War. and Helen married his brother Deiphobus. After the Greeks won the war. she was reunited with Menelaus. and she helped him kill Deiphobus. Then Helen and Menelaus set canvas for Sparta. Later Life. The twosome arrived in Sparta after a journey of several old ages. Some narratives say that the Gods. angry at the problem Helen had caused. sent storms to drive their ships off class to Egypt and other lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. When they eventually arrived in Sparta. the twosome lived merrily. although by some histories. Menelaus remained leery of Helen’s feelings and trueness. Many narratives say that Helen remained in Sparta until her decease. But others say that she went to the island of Rhodes after Menelaus died. possibly driven from Sparta by their boy Nicostratus. At first she was given safety on Rhodes by Polyxo. the widow of Tlepolemus. one of the Grecian leaders who had died in the Trojan War. Later. nevertheless. Polyxo had Helen hanged to revenge the decease of her hubby. One really different version of Helen’s narrative claims that the Gods sent an image. or dummy. of Helen to Troy but that she really spent the war old ages in Egypt. Helen and narratives about her divine many antediluvian authors. including the Grecian dramatist Euripides* and the Roman poets EtymologyThe etymology of Helen’s name has been a job for bookmans until the present. Georg Curtius related Helen ( ) to the Moon ( Selene ) . Emile Boisacq considered to deduce from the noun significance â€Å"torch† . [ 1 ] It has besides been suggested that the ? of arose from an original ?. and therefore the etymology of the name is connected with the root of Venus. Linda Lee Clader. nevertheless. says that none of the above suggestions offers much satisfaction. [ 2 ] If the name has an Indo-germanic etymology. it is perchance a suffixed signifier of a root *wel- â€Å"to bend. roll† . [ 3 ] or of *sel- â€Å"to flow. run† . [ 4 ] The latter possibility would let comparing to the Vedic Sanskrit Sara?yu . a character who is abducted in Rigveda 10. 17. 2. This analogue is implicative of a Proto-Indo-European abduction myth. Sara?yu means â€Å"swift† and is derived from the adjectivesara?a ( â€Å"running† . â€Å"swift† ) . the feminine of which is sara?a ; this is in every sound blood relation with . the signifier of her name that has no initial digamma. [ 5 ] The possible connexion of Helen’s name to ( â€Å"torch† ) . as celebrated above. may besides back up the relationship of her name to Vedic svarana ( â€Å"the reflecting one† ) . Prehistoric and fabulous context The beginnings of Helen’s myth day of the month back to the Mycenaean age. [ 8 ] The first record of her name appears in the verse form of Homer. but scholars assume that such myths invented or received by the Mycenaean Greeks made their manner to Homer. Her fabulous place of birth was Sparta of the Age of Heroes. which features conspicuously in the canon of Grecian myth: in later ancient Grecian memory. the Mycenaean Bronze Age became the age of the Grecian heroes. The male monarchs. Queenss. and heroes of the Trojan Cycle are frequently related to the Gods. since mythic beginnings gave stature to the Greeks’ heroic ascendants. The autumn of Troy came to stand for a autumn from an celebrated heroic age. remembered for centuries in unwritten tradition before being written down. [ 9 ] Recent archeological diggings in Greece suggest that contemporary Laconia was a distinguishable district in the Late Bronze Age. while the poets narrate that it was a rich land. Archeologis ts have unsuccessfully looked for a Mycenaean palatial composite buried beneath contemporary Sparta. [ 10 ] An of import Mycenaean site at the Menelaion was destroyed by ca. 1200 BC. and most other Mycenaean sites in Lakonia besides disappear. There is a shrinking from 50 sites to fifteen in the early 12th century. and so to fewer in the 11th century. Life/Birth In most beginnings. including the Iliad and the Odyssey. Helen is the girl of Zeus and Leda. the married woman of the Spartan male monarch Tyndareus ( no mention given for Helen as the girl of Leda ) . Euripides’ drama Helen. written in the late fifth century BC. is the earliest beginning to describe the most familiar history of Helen’s birth: that. although her putative male parent was Tyndareus. she was really Zeus’ girl. In the signifier of a swan. the male monarch of Gods was chased by an bird of Jove. and sought safety with Leda. The swan gained her fondness. and the two mated. Leda so produced an egg. from which Helen emerged. The First Vatican Mythographer introduces the impression that two eggs came from the brotherhood: one incorporating Castor and Pollux ; one with Helen and Clytemnestra. Nevertheless. the same writer earlier provinces that Helen. Castor and Pollux were produced from a individual egg. Pseudo-Apollodorus provinces that Leda had intercour se with both Zeus and Tyndareus the dark she conceived Helen. On the other manus. in the Cypria. one of the Cyclic Epics. Helen was the girl of Zeus and the goddess Nemesis. The day of the month of the Cypria is unsure. but it is by and large thought to continue traditions that day of the month back to at least the seventh century BC. In the Cypria. Nemesis did non wish to copulate with Zeus. She hence changed form into assorted animate beings as she attempted to fly Zeus. eventually going a goose. Zeus besides 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 someway transferred to Leda. Later beginnings province either that it was brought to Leda by a shepherd who discovered it in a grove in Attica. or that it was dropped into her lap by Hermes. Asclepiades of Tragilos and Pseudo-Eratosthenes related a similar narrative. except that Zeus and Nemesis became swans alternatively of geese. Timothy Gantz has suggested that the tradition that Zeus came to Leda in the signifier of a swan derives from the version in which Zeus and Nemesis transformed into birds. Pausanias states that in the center of the second century AD. the remains of an egg-shell. tied up in threads. were still suspended from the roof of a temple on the Spa rtan acropolis. Peoples believed that this was â€Å"the celebrated egg that legend says Leda brought forth† . Pausanias traveled to Sparta to see the sanctuary. dedicated to Hilaeira and Phoebe. in order to see the relic for himself. Abduction by Theseus and young person Two Athenians. Theseus and Pirithous. thought that since they were both boies of Gods. both of them should hold godly married womans ; they therefore pledged to assist each other abduct two girls of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen. and Pirithous vowed to get married Persephone. the married woman of Hades. Theseus took Helen and left her with his female parent Aethra or his associate Aphidnus at Aphidnae or Athens. Theseus and Pirithous so traveled to the underworld. the sphere of Hades. to nobble Persephone. Hades pretended to offer them cordial reception and put a banquet. but. every bit shortly as the brace sat down. serpents coiled around their pess and held them at that place. Helen’s abduction caused an invasion of Athens by Castor and Pollux. who captured Aethra in retaliation. and returned their sister to Sparta. In most histories of this event. Helen was rather immature ; Hellanicus of Lesbos said she was seven old ages old and Diodorus makes her 10 old ages old. On the other manus. Stesichorus said that Iphigeneia was the girl of Theseus and Helen. which evidently implies that Helen was of childbearing age. In most beginnings. Iphigeneia is the girl of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. but Duris of Samos and other authors followed Stesichorus’ history. Ovid’s Heroides give us an thought of how ancient and. in peculiar. Roman writers imagined Helen in her young person: she is presented as a immature princess wrestle naked in the palestra ; an image touching to a portion of girls’ physical instruction in classical ( and non in Mycenaean ) Sparta. Sextus Propertiusimagines Helen as a miss who patterns weaponries and Hunts with her brothers: [ †¦ ] or like Helen. on the littorals of Eurotas. between Castor and Pollux. one to be master in packaging. the other with Equus cabal luss: with bare chests she carried arms. they say. and did non crimson with her Godhead brothers at that place. Suitors of HelenWhen it was clip for Helen to get married. many male monarchs and princes from around the universe came to seek her manus. conveying rich gifts with them. or sent envoies to make so on their behalf. During the competition. Castor and Pollux had a outstanding function in covering with the suers. although the concluding determination was in the custodies of Tyndareus. Menelaus. her future hubby. did non go to but sent his brother. Agamemnon. to stand for him. There are three available and non wholly consistent lists of suers. compiled by Pseudo-Apollodorus ( 31 suers ) . Hesiod ( 11 suers ) . and Hyginus ( 36 suers ) . for a sum of 45 distinguishable names. There are merely fragments from Hesiod’s verse form. so his list would hold contained more. Achilles’ absence from the lists is conspicuous. but Hesiod explains that he was excessively immature to take portion in the competition. Taken together. the list of suers lucifers good with the captains in the C atalog of Ships from the Iliad ; nevertheless. some of the names may hold been placed in the list of Helen’s suers merely because they went to Troy. It is non improbable that relatives of a suer may hold joined the war. Six Suitors listed in all three beginnings * Ajax – Son of Telamon. Led 12 ships from Salamis to Troy. Commits self-destruction at that place. * Elephenor – Son of Chalcodon. Led 50 ships to Troy and died there * Menelaus – Son of Atreus. Led 60 ships from Sparta to Troy. He returned place to Sparta with Helen. * Menestheus – Son of Peteos. Led 50 ships from Athens to Troy. He returned to Athens after the war. * Odysseus – Son of Laertes. Led 12 ships from Ithaca to Troy. He returned place after 10 old ages of rolling the seas. * Protesilaus – Son of Iphicles. Led 40 ships from Phylace to Troy. He was the first Greek to decease in conflict at the custodies of Hector. Nineteen Suitors listed by both Apollodorus and Hyginus * Agapenor – Son of Ancaeus. King of Arcadia. Takes 60 ships of work forces to Troy. Returns place. * Ajax ( AKA Ajax the Lesser or Locrian Ajax ) – Son of Oileus. Led 40 ships to Troy. drowned on the manner place when Poseidon split the stone he was on. * Amphimachus – Son of Cteatus. With Polyxenus and Thalpius. he led 40 ships from Elis to Troy. Killed by Hector. * Antilochus – Son of Nestor. Went with his male parent and 90 ships to Troy. Killed in conflict while protecting his male parent from Memnon. * Ascalaphus – Son of Ares and King of Orchemenus. Led 30 ships to Troy. Killed in conflict by Deiphobus. * Diomedes – Son of Tydeus. Diomedes was one of the Epigoni and King of Argos. He led 80 ships to Troy. His married woman took a lover and Diomedes lost his land. so after the war he settled in Italy. * Eumelus – Son of Admetus and King of Pherae. Led 11 ships to Troy. * Eurypylus – Son of Euaemon. Led 40 ships from Thessa ly to Troy. * Leonteus – Son of Coronos. With Polypoetes he led 40 ships of the Lapiths to Troy. * Machaon – Son of Asclepius. brother of Podalirius. An Argonaut and doctor. Led 30 ships. Killed in conflict by Eurypylus ( the boy of Telephus ) . * Meges – Son of Phyleus. Led 40 ships to Troy. * Patroclus – Son of Menoetius. His younger cousin Achilles went with him to Troy. Killed by Hector. * Peneleos – Son of Hippalcimus. An Argonaut. He went with the Boetian force of 50 ships to Troy. Killed in conflict by Eurypylus ( the boy of Telephus ) . * Philoctetes – Son of Poeas. Led 7 ships from Thessaly to Troy. he was an bowman and killed Paris. * Podalirius – Son of Asclepius. brother of Machaon. A doctor. After the war he founded a metropolis in Caria. * Polypoetes – Son of Pirithous. With Leonteus. he led 40 ships of the Lapiths to Troy. * Polyxenus – Son of Agasthenes. With Amphimachus. and Thalpius. he led 40 ships from Elis to Troy. * Sthenelus – Son of Capaneus. One of the Epigoni. he went with Diomedes to Troy. * Thalpius – Son of Eurytus. With Amphimachus and Polyxenus. he led 40 ships from Elis to Troy. One Suitor listed by Apollodorus and Hesiod * Amphilochus – Son of Amphiaraus and younger brother of Alcmaeon. One Suitor listed by Hesiod and Hyginus* Idomeneus – Son of Deucalion and King of Crete. Led 80 ships to Troy. Survived the war. but was exiled from Crete. Three Suitors listed merely by Hesiod* Alcmaeon – Son of Amphiaraus and one of the Epigoni. * Lycomedes – a Cretan.* Podarces – The younger brother of Protesilaus. He led the military personnels after his brother’s decease. Ten Suitors listed merely by Hyginus* Ancaeus –* Blanirus –* Clytius –* Meriones – A comrade of Idomeneus of Crete.* Nireus – He led 3 ships from Syme to Troy.* Phemius –* Phidippus – He led 30 ships to Troy.* Prothous – He led 40 ships from Magnetes to Troy.* Thoas – He led 40 ships from Aetolia to Troy.* Tlepolemus – He led 9 ships from Rhodes to Troy. Five Suitors listed merely by Apollodorus* Epistrophus – Son of Iphitus. brother of Schedius.* Ialmenus – Companion of Ascalaphus. who led 30 ships to Troy * Leitus – Son of Alector* Schedius – Son of Iphitus. brother of Epistrophus. He was killed by Hector who was seeking to throw a spear towards Ajax. * Teucer – The stepbrother of Ajax. Survived the war. The Oath of TyndareusTyndareus was afraid to choose a hubby for his girl. or send any of the suers off. for fright of piquing them and giving evidences for a wrangle. Odysseus was one of the suers. but had brought no gifts because he believed he had small opportunity to win the competition. He therefore promised to work out the job. if Tyndareus in bend would back up him in his courtship of Penelope. the girl of Icarius. Tyndareus readily agreed. and Odysseus proposed that. before the determination was made. all the suers should curse a most grave curse to support the chosen hubby against whoever should dispute with him. After the suers had sworn non to revenge. Menelaus was chosen to be Helen’s hubby. As a mark of the importance of the treaty. Tyndareus sacrificed a Equus caballus. Helen and Menelaus became swayers of Sparta. after Tyndareus abdicated. The matrimony of Helen and Menelaus marks the beginning of the terminal of the age of heroes. Reasoning the catalog of Helenà ¢â‚¬â„¢s suers. Hesiod studies Zeus’ program to kill the race of work forces and the heroes in peculiar. The Trojan War. caused by Helen’s elopement with Paris. is traveling to be his agencies to this terminal. Seduction by Paris Some old ages subsequently. Paris. a Trojan prince. came to Sparta to claim Helen. in the pretense of a supposed diplomatic mission. Before this journey. Paris had been appointed by Zeus to judge the most beautiful goddess ; Hera. Athena. or Aphrodite. In order to gain his favor. Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful adult female in the universe. Swayed by Aphrodite’s offer. Paris chose her as the most beautiful of the goddesses. gaining the wrath of Athena and Hera. Although Helen is sometimes depicted as being raped by Paris. Ancient Grecian beginnings are frequently egg-shaped and contradictory. Herodotus states that Helen was abducted. but the Cypria merely mentions that. after giving Helen gifts. â€Å"Aphrodite brings the Spartan queen together with the Prince of Troy. † Sappho argues that Helen volitionally left behind Menelaus and Hermione. her nine-year-old girl. to be with Paris: Helen in EgyptAt least three Ancient Greek writers denied that Helen of all time went to Troy ; alternatively. they suggested. Helen stayed in Egypt during the continuance of the Trojan War. Those three writers are Euripides. Stesichorus. and Herodotus. In the version put forth by Euripides in his drama Helen. Hera fashioned a similitude of Helen ( eidolon. ) out of clouds at Zeus’ petition. Hermes took her to Egypt. and Helen neer went to Troy. passing the full war in Egypt. Eidolon is besides present in Stesichorus’ history. but non in Herodotus’ apologizing version of the myth. Herodotus adds weight to the â€Å"Egyptian† version of events by seting frontward his ain evidence—he traveled to Egypt and interviewed the priests of the temple of ( Foreign Aphrodite. ) at Memphis. Harmonizing to these priests. Helen had arrived in Egypt shortly after go forthing Sparta. because strong air currents had blown Paris’s ship off class. King Proteus of Egypt. appalled that Paris had seduced his host’s married woman and plundered his host’s place in Sparta. disallowed Paris from taking Helen to Troy. Paris returned to Troy without a new bride. but the Greeks refused to believe that Helen was in Egypt and non within Troy’s walls. Therefore. Helen waited in Memphis for ten old ages. while the Greek and the Trojans fought. Following the decision of the Trojan War. Menelaus sailed to Memphis. where Proteus reunited him with Helen. Helen in Troy When he discovered that his married woman was losing. Menelaus called upon all the other suers to carry through their curses. therefore get downing the Trojan War. The Grecian fleet gathered in Aulis. but the ships could non sail. because there was no air current. Artemis was enraged with a blasphemous act of the Greeks. and merely the forfeit of Agamemnon’s girl. Iphigenia. could pacify her. In Euripides Iphigenia in Aulis. Clytemnestra. Iphigenia’s female parent and Helen’s sister. implore her hubby to reconsider his determination. naming Helen a â€Å"wicked woman† . Clytemnestra ( unsuccessfully ) warns Agamemnon that giving Iphigenia for Helen’s interest is. â€Å"buying what we most hate with what we hold most dear† . Before the gap of belligerencies. the Greeks dispatched a deputation to the Trojans under Odysseus and Menelaus ; they endeavored to carry Priam to manus Helen back without success. A popular subject. The Request of Helen ( Helenes Apaitesis. ) was the topic of a play by Sophocles. now lost. Homer paints a poignant. alone image of Helen in Troy. She is filled with self-distaste and sorrow for what she has caused ; by the terminal of the war. the Trojans have come to detest her. When Hector dies. she is the 3rd griever at his funeral. and she says that. of all the Trojans. Hector and Priam entirely were ever sort to her: Why I wail likewise for thee and for my hapless ego with heartache at bosom ; for no longer have I anyone beside in wide Troy that is soft to me or sort ; but all work forces shudder at me. These acrimonious words reveal that Helen bit by bit realized Paris’ failings. and she decided to ally herself with Hector. There is an fond relationship between the two of them. and Helen has harsh words to state for Paris. when she compares the two brothers: Howbeit. seeing the Gods therefore ordained these ailments. would that I had been married woman to a better adult male. that could experience the outrage of his chaps and their many revilings. [ †¦ ] But come now. enter in. and sit thee upon this chair. m y brother. since above all others has problem encompassed thy bosom because of shameless me. and the foolishness of Alexander. During the autumn of Troy. Helen’s function is equivocal. In Virgil’s Aeneid. Deiphobus gives an history of Helen’s unreliable stance: when the Trojan Horsewas admitted into the metropolis. she feigned Bacchic rites. taking a chorus of Trojan adult females. and. keeping a torch among them. she signaled to the Greeks from the city’s cardinal tower. In Odyssey. nevertheless. Homer narrates a different narrative: Helen circled the Horse three times. and she imitated the voices of the Grecian adult females left behind at home—she therefore tortured the work forces inside ( including Odysseus and Menelaus ) with the memory of their loved 1s. and brought them to the threshold of devastation. After the decease of Hector and Paris. Helen became the fancy man of their younger brother. Deiphobus ; but when the poke of Troy began. she hid her new husband’s blade. and left him to the clemency of Menelaus and Odysseus. In Aeneid. Aeneas meets the maimed Deiphobus in Hades ; his lesions serve as a testimony to his black terminal. abetted by Helen’s concluding act of perfidy. However. Helen’s portrayals in Troy seem to belie each other. From one side. we read about the unreliable Helen who simulated Bacchic rites and rejoiced over the slaughter of Trojans. On the other manus. there is another Helen. lonely and helpless ; despairing to happen sanctuary. while Troy is on fire. Stesichorus narrates that both Greeks and Trojans gathered to lapidate her to decease. When Menelaus eventually found her. he raised his blade to kill her. He had demanded that merely he should murder his unfaithful married woman ; but. when he was ready to make so. she dropped her robe from her shoulders. and the sight of her beauty caused him to allow the sword bead from his manus. Electra laments: Alas for my problems! Can it be that her beauty has blunted their blades? Destiny Helen returned to Sparta and lived for a clip with Menelaus. where she was encountered by Telemachus in The Odyssey. Harmonizing to another version. used by Euripides in his drama Orestes. Helen had long ago left the mortal universe by so. holding been taken up to Olympus about instantly after Menelaus’ return. Harmonizing to Pausanias the geographer ( 3. 19. 9–10 ) : â€Å"The history of the Rhodians is different. They say that when Menelaus was dead. and Orestes still a roamer. Helen was driven out byNicostratus and Megapenthes and came to Rhodes. where she had a friend in Polyxo. the married woman 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 clip she was queen of the island. holding been left with an orphan male child. They say that this Polyxo desired to revenge the decease of Tlepolemus on Helen. now that she had her in her power. So she sent against her when she was bathing servants dressed up as Furies. who seized Helen and hanged her on a tree. and for this ground the Rhodians have a sanctuary of Helen of the Tree. † [ 50 ] Tlepolemus was a boy of Heracles and Astyoche. Astyoche was a girl of Phylas. King of Ephyra who was killed by Heracles. Tlepolemus was killed by Sarpedon on the first twenty-four hours of contending in the Iliad. Nicostratus was a boy of Menelaus by his courtesan Pieris. an Aetolian slave. Megapenthes was a boy of Menelaus by his courtesan Tereis. no farther beginning. In Simonianism. it was taught that Helen of Troy was one of the embodiments of the Ennoia in human signifier. Plot sum-upThe movie begins with the birth of Paris. and Cassandra’s prognostication that he would be the cause of Troy’s devastation. Worried. his male parent King Priamleaves him on Mount Ida. where he is found and raised by the shepherd Agelaus. When he is an grownup. he Judgess Aphrodite as the fairest of the three goddesses. Hera. Athena. and Aphrodite. After presenting her the aureate apple she promises him the love of Helen of Sparta. the most beautiful adult female in the universe. Meanwhile in Sparta. Helen sees in a pool Paris’s opinion. and merrily accepts his pick of her love. She subsequently meets the Mycenaean King. Agamemnon. who has come to claim her sister. Clytemnestra. as his bride. but is besides instantly taken by her attraction. During the nuptials. Helen is kidnapped by two Athenians. Theseus. and his friend Pirithous. They take her to Athens. where Helen falls for Theseus. before her brother Pollux foraies Athens and kills him. As he is d eceasing. Theseus stabs Pollux. In Sparta. Helen’s male parent Tyndareus rages at his girl. faulting her for losing his inheritor. He presents her to the many suers who seek her manus. offering them to make as they wish. The suers draw tonss after cursing an curse suggested by clever Odysseus that if anyone disrespect her husband’s claims to her. they should unify and pay war against him. Odysseus regulations himself and Agamemnon out of the batch. since they are both married. They agree to the curse. and Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus wins. Agamemnon is visibly covetous. Agamemnon suggests to Menelaus that he should hold Helen present herself bare before the other suers. as a manner for him to show that their matrimony is worth the suitors’ protection. While Helen is bathing. Clytemnestra tries to deter her from making as Menelaus asks. but is unsuccessful. Before Helen foliages. she says to Clytemnestra. â€Å"They can look all they want. but they’ll neer see me. † The doors unfastened and Helen walks naked through the crowd of work forces. to great grasp. She stops before Mene laus. so turns about and stairss onto a podium. seting her bare organic structure in full position of everyone in the room. Agamemnon is clearly banqueting his eyes on Helen’s organic structure throughout her presentation. Meanwhile. Paris’ favourite bull is taken for the Trojan testimonial games. Paris insists on viing. despite his father’s protests. After winning in every competition and being recognized by his sister Cassandra. Paris is welcomed by an overjoyed Priam to Troy. Cassandra and his senior brotherHector are upset at their father’s determination. Paris is sent to Sparta to pull out a peace pact with the Atreids. Agamemnon and Menelaus. His pact is refused and Agamemnon secret plans to hold him murdered. While at that place. nevertheless. he recognizes Helen as she is standing naked on the podium. Subsequently. he prevents her from perpetrating self-destruction. He so additions her love. and she helps him flee. Together they sail to Troy. When Menelaus finds this out. he demands that his brother launch war on Troy. and the former suers are gathered to carry through their curse. But the air currents are non in their favour and after a month. a forecaster reveals that Athena wants Agamemnon to give his girl Iphigenia. Agamemnon is horrified. but nevertheless carries out the title. Helen and Paris arrive at Troy with the Grecian ground forces at their heels. Priam is at first reluctant to let Helen to stay at Troy. until he sees her. When the Greeks send an embassy of Menelaus and Odysseus to demand Helen’s return. Priam refuses. and the Greeks program an onslaught. In the forenoon. the conflict is joined on the beach of Troy. with Hector about killed by Agamemnon. The conflict ends with the Trojan army’s oppressing licking and the Greeks encampment on the beach. Ten old ages pass. Agamemnon agrees to stop the war with a individual combat. between Menelaus and Paris. If Menelaus wins. Helen will be returned. If Menelaus loses. the Trojans may maintain her. Whatever the result. the Greeks have to go forth Troy. Agamemnon darnels. poisoning Menelau s’ javelin without stating him. During the affaire dhonneur Paris is cut and the toxicant disorientates him. Menelaus. nevertheless. does non take advantage of him ; alternatively. they stop contending and do peace between each other as a fog hides them from position. As the fog lifts. Agamemnon’s cheating is exposed. Hector challenges Agamemnon to a affaire dhonneur that will stop the war—this clip. to the decease. Achilles takes up the challenge. contending for Agamemnon. but agrees to contend non for Helen but for his ain award. Achilles easy succeeds in killing Hector. That dark Helen. fearing for Paris’s safety. goes to the visionary Cassandra and asks to cognize what she can make to protect Paris. Cassandra replies that her lone pick is to give herself to the Greeks. Helen agrees. showing herself in Agamemnon’s collapsible shelter and offering a trade—her for the organic structure of Hector. Agamemnon refuses. as he does non desire his daughter’s decease to be in vain . and chases her around the cantonment. but Paris arrives in clip to salvage her. disputing Agamemnon for the safety of Troy. Achilles charges at him. but Paris seizes a bow and shoots Achilles in the heel. killing him. Afterwards the Greeks onslaught him. but he hides and is reunited with Helen. Shortly thenceforth. Agamemnon finds him and knife Paris in the thorax after a speedy affaire dhonneur. He dies in Helen’s weaponries. whispering the word. â€Å"goddess† . During Paris’ funeral. the Greeks are reported to hold sailed away—leaving a monolithic wooden Equus caballus on the shore. It is taken into the metropolis. and Troy celebrates tardily into the dark. When they are all asleep. the Greeks come out and plunder the metropolis. murdering Priam and Hecuba. The great Agamemnon seats himself proudly on Troy’s throne as the new Emperor of the Aegean and Ruler of the World. Agamemnon has his work forces bring Helen to his throne and orders her to kneel at his pess. Agamemnon strokes Helen’s hair. so begins to ravish her. Menelaus tries to halt him. but is held back by Agamemnon’s guards. He orders Agamemnon to go forth his married woman entirely. bu t his brother pays no head to his bids and continues to ravish Helen. Odysseus is besides shocked at Agamemnon’s act. but could make nil. The following forenoon. as the Grecian soldiers ravage the ruins of Troy of its wealths and its people as slaves. Clytemnestra arrives in the royal castle of Troy. where she ventures into the royal pool. There. she finds Agamemnon and Helen. both bare. Agamemnon relaxes in victory. while Helen lies in a corner. non stating a word. Clytemnestra covers her sister with a robe and sends her off. go forthing her ( Clytemnestra ) entirely with Agamemnon. She tells him she comes for their girl. Iphigenia. When Agamemnon replies that she is non here. Clytemnestra. holding figured out herself. throws a net on her hubby and knife him to decease. Helen wanders deplorably through the destroyed metropolis. eventually coming to the topographic point where Paris was slain. There. she sees an phantom of Paris and they embrace. Helen begs Paris to take her with him to the hereafter. and he tells her that he has prepared a topographic point for her. but she must wait until it is her clip. He disappear s. and Menelaus crosses her way. blade in manus. Helen prepares for her penalty. but Menelaus can make nil but feel sorry for her. Helen tells him she can non love him. but she â€Å"will follow† . The two caput back to the Grecian ships. ready to populate the remainder of their lives as King and Queen of Sparta.