Paris And Helen And The Relationship Between Hector And Andromache

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

Narrator 1 (Sarah) – Helen was afraid and this child of Zeus pulled her silvery –white lines around her, and walked silently through the Trojan women, ditching them completely. The Goddess went ahead and led her to Paris’ beautiful house, the servants quickly all found something to do.

Paris is offered Helen by Aphrodite, and so he takes Helen as his wife from Menelaus. Paris may not have known that taking Helen would have resulted in the Trojan War; however, he still accepted Helen as a bribe, making him an extremely greedy person. After seeing all the bloodshed and lives at the hands of Paris, he should’ve realized that he needed to return Helen. Anyone with the lowest sense of morality would realize that the right thing to do is to return Helen. Paris was lucky enough to be saved by Aphrodite after he was nearly killed by Menelaus. In the last few lines of Book 3 it is clear how the people feel about Paris and what Paris needs to do:

      Penelope and Helen are the real human women who can steal men's hearts with their own feminine ways and they never let their man go.  Helen stole the heart of Paris and later married Menelaus-the love that Paris had for Helen began the long Trojan War.  Even with her shaded past, Helen is able to live her life as a proper adjusted middle-class matron.  Penelope and Odysseus were only together for a few years before he was sent off to war and, while he was gone for over twenty years, his love for her lasted.  Penelope is the symbol of marital fidelity, of trust, honor  and devotion.

Helen displays her flirtatious attitude to Hector, however it could also be inferred that she is unsatisfied with Paris and Menelaus. During her argument with Aphrodite, she claims she does not want to be looked at poorly by the Trojans for serving Paris is bed. This shows a sudden desire to be socially accepted and looked beyond just her beauty or as a nuisance by the Trojans.

At the beginning of the story, the gods are debating what to do with the Greeks after they pillaged Troy, but more specifically, violated Athena’s shrine. Athena asks for help and says to Poseidon, “I want to help the Trojans who were my enemies, and make the Greek army’s homecoming a bitter one.” (Euripides 63). To which Poseidon replies, “You’re so fickle. Your mind leaps here and there: now you hate, and now you love, and both in excess.” (Euripides 65). Even Poseidon admits to the “fickleness” of the goddess since her allies during the war were the Greeks. This lends itself to show that Helen could be telling the truth about the goddesses having an argument about the beauty of each other and Aphrodite forcing Helen to run away with Paris. Helen also helps her argument by pointing out that the fight was preordained by the gods based on the prophecy about Paris, and then blames Paris’s mother and father for letting Paris live, rather than slaying Paris and trying to stop the prophecy from coming true. Through the many effective arguments, Helen shows that she did not ask to be carried away by Paris and that she liked Menelaus. Menelaus seems very weak compared to Helen, especially since he seems to not be able to make up his mind whether to kill her or not. In the end, Menelaus seems to decide on letting her live, though he still tells

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.

Even as his wife Andromache pleads “Pity me, please! Take your stand on the rampart here before you orphan your son and make your wife a widow” (Iliad VI. 511-512) to persuade him to stay at home, he chooses kleos over his family. Hector is described by Helen far differently than she speaks of her own husband.  “But come in, rest on this seat with me, dear brother, you are the one hit hardest by the fighting, Hector, you more than all – and all for me, slut that I am, and this blind mad Paris” (Iliad VI. 421-423).  Helen embraces Hector for his bravery and honor, and asks even that he rest from battle.  Her polar opinion between the two brothers serves as an important facet for dissecting the importance of kleos even within a family. Homer shows Helen’s shame and contempt for her husband as he does nothing to defend her or his home against her love for Hector as he fights so gloriously for Troy.

Throughout time, sibling have had to deal with sibling rivalry. It is been seen even as far back as the 7th or 8th century b.c.e when homer wrote the epic poem, The Iliad. In the Iliad, Homer showed us a huge sibling rivalry between the two brother Hector and Paris. He focus on these two men that both want to become a great legacy and hero. Homer’s comparison of these to characters shows there drive to become the better man. Through all of there rivalries, which include but are not limited to family, behaviour in battle, and how they relate to the gods, Hector shows that he is the more honourable man.

The Iliad: Book VI is about the continued war for Troy but Homer focuses a lot of the book on Hector, Prince of Troy. The Achaeans were overwhelming the Trojans so they were forced back into their city. The Trojans were weakened so the Achaeans took full advantage and slaughtered as many as they could. However, the Trojans anticipated this weakness and Hector asked his mother to pray to Athena for the army. Meanwhile Paris, Hector’s brother, had withdrawn from battle because of the grief he caused. But his soon to be wife Helen and Hector convince him to return to battle. Just before they head into battle Hector pays a visit to his wife and child to say goodbye for maybe the last time. His wife is convinced that he is near his death and mourns. Hector then meets Paris on the way to the city gate and they prepare to fight.

Paris then took her back to Troy. Menelaus heard and the ex-suitors of Helen made a deal with Agamemnon saying that If the princess of Grease won that Menelaus would get Helen back and Agamemnon would get Troy. Rumors have it that Odysseus the king of Ithaca, was sent on a journey to find you and persuade you to join the war between the princes of Greece and the Trojans. Odysseus was a great persuader , and with you thirst for adventure and glory, he talked you in the joining the fight and you sailed for Troy. You took 50 ships, each carrying 50 men of your best men from your private army, the Myrmidons. Is it true that Agamemnon and you had a falling out and you withdrew from the conflict? and that the quarrel started after you had taken two women in one of your raids? and that you gave one of the women to Agamemnon. But, the girl’s father offered a ransom for the girl’s safe return. and that Agamemnon refused because the girl was a priestess of Apollo, and that the god was unhappy with this decision and sent a plague to wreak amongst the Greek camp. and that Agamemnon eventually gave back the girl, and to mourn the loss, he took your woman from you? and without you, the Greeks were fearful of loss and the Trojans gained confidence of winning from your absence, even reaching close to the walls of the Greek camp in their attacks and managing to set a few Greek ships on fire. what was your thoughts when your great friend Patroclus begged you to re-enter the war or at least allow him to lead out the Myrmidons in battle? and when you agreed was it hard to give him your armour made of gold, silver, and enamel, and the graves were of shining tin and army? and why did you make him promise only to engage in defensive action and not pursue the Trojans back to Troy? To my understanding you killed Troilus and were very smitten with Priam's daughter Polyxena. Priam decided

Embodied in Paris, the antagonist of the Trojan war, is the reflection of Troy's lack of piety. When Paris captured Helen, he stole her while Menelaus’ guest in Mycenaea and under the ancient code of hospitality. However, the abduction of Helen went further than breaking

The Iliad, an epic poem written by Homer, concerns a deadly war between Greek and Trojan mortals and immortals. Throughout the battle, the characters try to impose their will onto the war by expressing their own agency. Agency is a character’s ability to act on their own free will without any emotional or physical constraints stopping them. However, the characters do not always have the luxury of doing whatever they please. There are many factors that come into play that does not allow the them to act freely. In Book Three, we can see Helen, the prize of the Trojan war, having trouble expressing her own will. Helen challenges Aphrodite’s command when she tries to convince Helen to join Paris in his bedroom and Helen shames Paris when they finally meet. In this particular scene, lines 3.428 to 3.524, Helen is able to assert herself through speaking, but she still has no capability to act and must follow the orders of Aphrodite and Paris. Helen’s verbal resistance against Aphrodite and Paris shows how the social hierarchy set within the Iliad limit mortal women from being able to act on their own accord.

Helen’s “Judgement of Paris” and Greek Marriage Ritual in Sappho 16, an article written by Eric Dodson-Robinson from Johns Hopkins University, explores how Homer’s writings and Greek marriage rituals feed into the meaning of Sappho’s sixteenth fragment. Primarily through exploring the parallel roles of the characters in Sappho’s fragment and Homeric tales, Dodson-Robinson begins to decipher what is beautiful in Sappho’s eyes. Exploring the subjective role of Helen in the poem, the author reveals how abducting Helen could be a possible reference to archaic Greek marriage ritual. Ultimately, it concludes that the relationship between traditional judgment roles and desire are far more complex than it seems.

Paris then kidnapped Helen because Aphrodite promised him Helen which was also Menelaus king of Sparta's Wife