Helen Of Troy

As Helen said “Have you a favorite mortal man there too?”, she regarded Aphrodite as the embodiment of sexual desire, implying that Aphrodite was trying to use her immortal power of lust to enslave Helen as the sex partner of Paris. Holding the one cardinal idea that she is not supposed to be a sex slave, Helen used her words to punch Aphrodite right in the face, as she replied “Is that why you beckon here beside me now with all the immortal cunning in your heart?” But with the infuriated reply “Don’t provoke me — wretched, headstrong girl! Or in my immortal rage I may just toss you over, hate you as I adore you now…”, Aphrodite had implied that she could either love or hate Helen. More importantly, Aphrodite also noted that if Helen chose to be hated, then Aphrodite as an immortal could use her power to make other people hate Helen, as she said “withering hate from both sides at once… then your fate can tread you down to dust!” This had really left Helen with a great shock, as she could not afford the consequence of being hated by both the immortals and mortals. So as a result, she had no choice but to obey Aphrodite and return to Paris, failing to establish her agency. Bear in mind that Helen was the daughter of Zeus and she got such treatment, it could be even worse for other

In Penelope’s case, it is made clear that her freedom of action is strictly controlled. Antinous feels free to advise Telemachus that as Odysseus is assumed dead, it is expected that Helen will choose another husband, or her father should do so for her. Telemachus does not challenge the logic of this,

Anger can always incite irrational actions. The sight of Helen seeking shelter at the altar, causes Aeneas to remember the crimes she committed driving him to furious anger. This anger drives him to contemplate an ignoble and uncharacteristic act of revenge by murdering Helen as she sought protection from the gods. Despite being depicted as a virtuous hero, Aeneas’ strong, visceral reaction to seeing Helen shows that he is subject to the same passionate feelings all humans feel, especially when something raises his anger.

In both the poems “ To Helen” and “Helen” the views of Helen—“the face that launched a thousand ships”, differs as her beauty praised as a heroine juxtaposes the belief that she remains a traitor.

Helen of Sparta’s portrayals in many different accounts of mythology and history are extremely dissimilar. Helen was said to be the daughter of Zeus and Leda (Queen of Sparta), and was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Helen was abducted by Paris of Troy and when Menelaus came to retrieve Helen, the Trojan war began. In “The Odyssey”, Helen is shown as living happily with Menelaus after he brought her back from Sparta. She is portrayed as an intelligent person who sees things for what they truly are, but is mostly reserved to wifely duties. In “Trojan Women” by Euripides, Helen is shown as a person who was used by the gods as a reward for Paris with nothing else in mind. However, she fights vehemently for her own innocence in the

Homer tends to lighten Helen 's betrayal somewhat in The Odyssey. Homer wants to assure the reader that although it is in the past, it will not be entirely forgotten. In this epic she becomes a wife to Menelaus and not in the literal sense because the two have always been married. Instead, she now openly admits to him and other guests that her actions were unspeakable and unforgivable, almost to say that what occurred what unlike her and she actually is a good woman. Also, Menelaus agrees with her, showing no anger. But Homer lets us know that she is as deceitful and conniving as ever, when Helen admits to openly celebrating the fall of Troy, cheering while the Trojan women wept for their husbands. She says "The rest of the Trojan women shrilled with their grief. Not I: my heart leapt up-my heart had changed now-I yearned to sail back home again" (Homer). Thus, Helen goes from being deceitful to adapting disloyalty.

There are various accounts for why Helen left Sparta and to why Paris abducted Helen. Some attribute the abduction as a means to power and politics. According to Strauss, Anatolia was a place that offered women more political freedom (Strauss, 16). Freedom and power alone could have enticed Helen to leaving her husband and running off with Paris. Homer heavily

The next and less benevolent role is that of the seductress. Two stories about such women referred to in The Odyssey are those of the half-sisters Helen and Klytaimnestra. The entire Trojan War was caused by Helen's unfaithfulness to Menelaos; her affair caused many deaths and Odysseus would not have had to leave home if she had not run away with Paris. The other sister also caused pain and suffering by having an affair and then killing her husband, Agamemnon, with her lover on his homecoming day. The seductress is always looked upon as dangerous and harmful to mankind. The Seirenes symbolize this role; their song seduces and compels anyone listening to linger until death. Kirke tries to seduce Odysseus before she helps him, and the beautiful Kalypso entices him with sex and immortality and will not release him to go home. It is the hero's job to resist the temptation of the seductress or it will lead to his downfall.

This section starts when Anaxandra arrives at Menelaus’s country of Amyklai. Since she is pretending to be the princess Callisto, everyone is treating her like royalty. Although she enjoyed all the attention, she also felt really guilty for taking her former friend, Callisto’s name. No one questioned Anaxandra except for the queen, Helen. Helen is a beautiful but stuck up queen that does whatever she wants. Even the gods can’t punish her because her father is Zeus. Menelaus and his daughter, Hermione always defend Anaxandra but Helen always treats her like slave anyway. Some of Helen’s have warned Anaxandra to stay away from Helen. One day a prince from Troy randomly arrived at Amyklai. He brought gives and claimed he wanted to worship Apollo at the altar Menelaus had. Menelaus thought nothing of it and let the prince, Paris, and his men in. After greeting Menelaus Paris turned to Helen and there was an immediate connection. Anaxandra and Hermione sensed it but Menelaus didn’t. After the party for Paris’s arrival was over, everyone went to sleep. Hermione and Anaxandra stayed up though; they were talking about their suspicions about Paris. In the middle of their conversation they saw Helen sneaking down the hallway and entering Paris’s room. They were shocked at first but they realized that this was bound to happen. Soon almost everyone knew of the affair

We only catch a glimpse of Helen in the Odyssey, but Helen in Walcott’s Omeros is

Having no other option Menelaos goes to the house of Theoklymenos to beg for food.  He is turned away and Helen enters the scene having just returned from the oracle.  They meet each other and it is not 'love at first sight' as Helen was promised.  Nevertheless Menelaos soon believes that his new-found wife is the real Helen..  She has remained loyal to him unlike his deceitful apparition.  He wants to take her away and she disobediently refuses.  Helen comes up with a plan of her own to reunite the two, a unique twist in the typical hero-rescues-damsel story.  The roles have been changed and Helen is in charge.  She, like Thenoe, is not an obedient female-she is loyal.  Helen then turns to Theoklymenos and play-acts as if her husband has died.  She feigns obedience to her (soon-to-be) husband to lure him into allowing the plan to work.

In “The Trojan Women,” there are four enduring women who dominate the play and only two men who say anything at all. Moving us with their rants and dramatic reactions, these women engulf the audience in overwhelming grief and irresistible pride. Euripides emphasizes these four women to help us understand one of his main themes. Hecuba with her pride, Cassandra with her virginity and uncanny wisdom, Andromache with her misery and heartache, and Helen with her powerful, seductive reasoning all represent superior illustrations of feminism throughout the play.

Throughout history treason has been committed all over the world even extending back to the greeks during the trojan war. Treason is committed for many reasons such as money, fame, political and religious beliefs, fame, and in the case with Helen it was love. Punishment for being found guilty of treason can range from death to imprisonment for no less than 5 years, during the time of the Trojan war if one was found guilty the punishment would most likely be death. Although Helen is under a spell from Aphrodite, she is guilty of treason because during her “abduction” she showed no signs of resistance.

In Athens, women had very little rights. Womens fathers were the ones who got to choose whom they married, and that caused trouble for the lovers. Hermia’s father, Egeus, strongly believed in this rule. At the beginning, Egeus decides that he wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, which is good for Demetrius but bad for Hermia. Hermia, daringly refuses her father’s wishes, so they seek the help of Theseus, the Duke of Athens. Theseus listens to their situation, and being the authority in the situation, tells Hermia: “Either to die the death, or to abjure for the society of men. Therefore, fair Hermia,... if you yield not to your father’s choice, you can endure the livery of a nun...”(24). This shows how authority, in this case the law, gets in the way of “the course of true love…”(28). Egeus’s decision to have Hermia marry Demetrius does not only affect Hermia but also affects Helena. When Hermia’s father chooses Demetris to be her

Homer’s Iliad is undoubtedly focused on its male characters: Achilles, primarily, but also Hector and Agamemnon. Nevertheless, it seems that the most crucial characters in the epic are female. Homer uses the characters of Thetis, Andromache, and Helen as a basis for comparison to the male characters. Homer wants his audience to see and understand the folly of his male characters in choosing war over peace, aggression over kindness, and honor over family. While the behavior of these characters clearly speaks for itself, the contrasting attitudes and behaviors of the female characters proffer an alternative; in comparison, the reader can hardly fail to concur with Homer’s message that war, aggression,