Is Helen To Blame For The Trojan War

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

The three people that shall be blamed for causing the Trojan War would be Helen; for being disloyal, Agamemnon for his selfishness and Paris for his ignorance. Helen is to blame for this tragedy because she betrayed her husband by choice. As mentioned in the text, as Helen was chosen to be with Paris, she then chose to flee with him back to Troy. However, after making that offensive decision, she further increased her sins by committing adultery. To further expand, she had many opportunities to run away and go back to Menelaus to end the war but she was determined not to. Her oblivious decisions caused this whole war. A huge role in this long lasting battle was played by Agamemnon’s selfishness. He was only looking for an excuse to go to

When Aeneas sees Helen, he is driven into a state of fervent anger because he believes she caused the downfall of his homeland. When Aeneas first finds Helen, she is seeking refuge at the altar of Vesta (2.567), goddess of home and family. By seeking refuge at the altar of a goddess, Helen appears more vulnerable which serves to highlight the vengeful action Aeneas contemplates. Helen’s actions parallel those of Cassandra who sought refuge at the altar of Minerva during the fall of Troy. Like Helen, Cassandra was seeking refuge from the horrors of the war only to be assaulted by Ajax. While Aeneas never follows through on his desire to attack Helen in her place of refuge, the parallel serves to emphasizes how brutal Aeneas’ murder of Helen would be if he committed it at an altar. Killing someone seeking refuge at an altar would be a dishonorable act that would offend the gods, which is something that would be out of character for Aeneas if he was

Menelaus obviously won the fight, so he deserves Helen. Paris would’ve been dead if it weren’t for Aphrodite, yet he still doesn’t give Helen back to Menelaus. Rather, the war continues and thousands of people continue to die at the greediness of Paris.

When speaking with Aphrodite, Helen says she will not join Paris in bed, but goes to him afterwards anyways. (3.

The Greek forces won the Trojan War. The story of the war is a cornerstone of Greek legend, and pervaded Greek literature and culture. Though the evidence for the Trojan War as historical fact is scarce, it was a formative event in Greek cultural memory, producing some of the classical world’s most famous heroes and narratives. The War was won, Helen was retrieved from Paris, whose violation of ξενία was redressed, the heroes attained the κλέος that many of them fought for – and yet the positive outcomes of the Trojan War are difficult to grasp. For the victims of the Trojan War, the tragedy is obvious; the War ended in genocide and total cultural destruction. But such a war, burnt into legend, should have left the victors far better off; and yet, the Greek heroes only suffer because of it. They die tragic, dishonourable deaths; their households are left in ruin; their families are torn apart. From both modern and classical perspectives, the Trojan War is a tragedy, a “harrowing destruction of life” (Euripides, Andromache, 291). The victory is pyrrhic, the loss of life is horrific, the reparations non-existent.

Odysseus, dressed as a beggar went to Troy to gather information. While there, Helen saw and recognized Odysseus. To learn if it was truly Odysseus, she bathed him to remove his beggar’s clothes. To have called a guard would be an easy way to arrest Odysseus, but she didn’t. Instead, she learned what would happen while also giving Odysseus information about the Trojan side of the war. If Helen did not like Menelaus and wished the Trojans to win, many situations could have happened to allow Helen to betray Menelaus. Helen sincerely liked Menelaus and her abduction by Paris was not with her consent. In addition, when Helen puts a drug in everyone’s wine to prevent sadness the only reason for this action could be to prevent the pain of past events from resurfacing. The book specifically says, “she cast a medicine of Heartsease, free of gall, to make one forget all sorrows.” This action was done out of care for her husband. Helen seems a loyal wife, but the Helen in Trojan Women, not so

Barry Strauss organizes his summary of the Trojan War by referencing Homer 's the Iliad and the Odyssey and compares it to the historical contexts of what he thinks happened. Most scholars agree that the Trojan War dates back around 1200 B.C. during the Bronze Age. The most popular tale of how the Trojan War starts is when Paris, Prince of Troy, goes to visit Sparta to mend relations. In Sparta, Paris is welcomed by Menelaus, King of Sparta and his beautiful wife Helen. According to ancient sources, Menelaus went to Crete for business and foolishly left Helen all alone with Paris (Strauss, 15). Afterward, Helen is seduced by Paris and flees Sparta to accompany him back to Troy, along with bountiful treasures.

My hypothesis is that the Trojan War didn’t actually happen because of Helen being abducted from Sparta, I think that there’s more the issue, perhaps a major wealth issue from a neighbouring society. Archaeologist Like Heinrich Schlieman, Wilhelm Dörpfeld, Carl Blegen and Manfred Korfmann, have all looked into the site of where Troy was believed to be and have all found some sort of evidence as so why, the battle of Troy could not have started all because Helen was

The Trojan War is described as one of histories most legendary battles. This battle is told to have lasted ten years, resulting in the eventual collapse of Troy, under the siege of Greek forces. Modern knowledge of the Trojan War has survived mainly through the account given in Homer’s Illiad, and while having proved to be a rich source of inspiration for other writers, artists, and even filmmakers in recent history, much speculation still exists surrounding his account. I will analyze modern interpretations of the Trojan War and examine both speculation and support for Homer’s account. Concluding with sufficient evidence that has been collected surrounding this epic battle, proving Homer’s account of a massive battle between these two powerful city states to not be just a tale of myth and legend, but actual history.

you” (3.138). It is not only that Helen is not to have any choice in the

Helen eventually stabilized her emotional state and conquered her feelings without resorting to

To start off we have Helen of Troy, a mortal woman, thought to be one of the most beautiful in her time. She left her husband Menelaus of Sparta for Paris of Troy and because of that and her beauty a 10 year war surged between Sparta

Barry Strauss, professor of classics at Cornell University attempts to redefine a one of history’s biggest love affairs, the Trojan War. Strauss explains how certain events and characters from Homers “The Odyssey” might have actually existed, but also uses modern discoveries from the Bronze Age to compare Homers account to those of Egypt, the Middle East, and etc. While Homer’s epic should not be read as a historical document which recounts the Trojan War hundred percent accurately, it can still be seen as document which embodies some historical truth. The novel as a whole explains the customs, economic standing, fighting styles and beliefs of the Greeks. Strauss’s writing style allows for the book to be accessible to both students and historians. He argues that just like Franz Ferdinand was the spark which ignited World War 1, Helen on the other hand was just a spark which escalated an existing tension between the Greeks and Trojans. Strauss’s personal input on the war itself gives the novel a different outlook on the Trojan War because, it allows for readers to see beyond the facts and make connections with ideas that Strauss had made with recent discoveries and Homers epic.

If one continues with the assumption of the existence of Homer’s Troy, the following step of determining the process of events in the Trojan War would naturally be to identify the combatants that partook in it and the cause that drove them to war. Once again, many distinct possibilities arise and have been expanded upon by modern scholars, the most well-known being that the Greeks fought for Helen. As portrayed originally in the Iliad, the hero Achilles alongside the rest of the Greek army could have laid siege on Troy for Helen, who had been kidnapped by Paris of Troy, somewhat plausible since “there is a historical precedent for a war being fought over an injustice done to a king”(Stefan Lovgren) Even so, others have stated that this kidnapping could also “be seen merely an excuse to launch a pre-ordained war for land, trade, profit…”(Eric Cline) which would delegate the role of Helen to be the spark that ignited the preexisting will for war and not the sole cause. Another belief parallels this; being that the Mycenaeans fought for Troy because of its profitable positioning near the Black Sea, and by capturing it they would sate their greed for various forms of economic gain in addition to control of increased territory. Other