Helen Mirren

been around for many years. To some, like Edgar Allan Poe, Helen is a beauty beyond words, constantly praised. To others, like Hilda Doolittle (H.D.), she is a curse bestowed upon Greece. As thousands of years have passed since the Trojan War, through their uses of speech, diction, imagery, form, and tone, the two poets display their contrasting views of Helen in their poems “To Helen” and “Helen”. Edgar Allan Poe writes an ode “To Helen”. Starting from the title it is seen that he is talking directly

what fuels the Trojan War and thus the Iliad itself. Such a long standing conflict between Paris and Menelaus serves to point out the futility of honor and shame. Paris first shames Menelaus’s by stealing Helen, Menelaus’s wife, and he then, in turn, refuses to admit his wrongdoing and give back Helen, all in fear of being shamed in front of the

aspects of the event. In 2004 the movie Troy directed by Wolfgang Petersen came out. Troy, based on Homer's Iliad, portrays the battle between cities of Troy and Sparta. While visiting King Menelaus of Sparta, Paris the trojan prince falls for his wife, Helen. Paris then takes her back to Troy. Richard alleva describes Paris and Helen’s love for each other as “not only beautiful but so vulnerable in their selfish love that you might regard them as children who burn down a house to see the pretty flames”

absolutely nothing about Helen of Troy nor of Ancient Greece or its beliefs or values, I just always wanted to visit. What I learned is that I do not categorize her as a femme fatale. A femme for certain but I do not believe that she fits that fatale archetype. Per myth, her father was Zeus or Tyndareus, her mother was Leda or Nemesis. Her father, now King Tyndareus (not Zeus) had to create the Oath of Tyndareus due to the overwhelming number of suitors that wanted to marry Helen. Fast forward to Paris

Women have been shown in many different lights in the Greek works of Odyssey and Iliad which we have covered in our class. The works that I will be citing in this essay, namely Homer’s poems Odyssey and Iliad talk about many prominent women such as Helen of Troy, Penelope and also many other Goddesses. Homer’s poems talk about the various traits of Greek women and portray their characteristics by describing their traits and the events they were involved in. Through this essay, I would like to illustrate

Yeats’ Leda and the Swan and Van Duyn's Leda        In Greek mythology, Leda, a Spartan queen, was so beautiful that Zeus, ruler of the gods, decided he must have her. Since immortals usually did not present themselves to humankind in their divine forms, Zeus changed himself into a great swan and in that shape ravished the helpless girl (Carey 58-59). Both William Butler Yeats and Mona Van Duyn base their poems "Leda and the Swan" and "Leda," respectively, on this story of a "mystic marriage

Analysis of Leda and the Swan. Greek mythology. Analysis of Leda and the Swan. Greek mythology has, throughout history, been the subject of much debate and interpretation. Conjuring up images of bloody battles and crumbling cities, its descriptions of the epic battle between good and evil still have remarkable relevance and continue to resonate with poignancy in our bleak, war-torn society. The poem Leda and the Swan, written by William Butler Yeats, attempts to shed new light on what

HOMER AND EURIPIDES DEAL WITH THE SAME THEMES BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS INTRO: Despite difference of around 400 years between them Greek poet Homer and tragedian playwright Euripides explore many of the same themes in their works the Odyssey and Trojan Women (written by each respectively). Both works are inspired by the events of 12th Century BCE Trojan War that Homer previously explored in the Iliad. The two examine the worth of cunning over brute strength, the dangers of temptation and the role of

about the moral principles of Ancient Greek society, that which we can compare to a modern American citizen’s morals by examining the numerous invasions within our society, such as drug abuse, and invasion of privacy. Through usage of a drug, Helen invades her husband 's mind, as drugs invade the minds of people among us. Upon arrival at Menelaus’s palace, Telemachus and Pisistratus are in awe at the massive amount of wealth, Menelaus has acquired. Upon comparing Menelaus to a god, he quickly

tale of a war being fought between the Achaian’s and Trojans over the claim of the most beautiful woman in the world—Helen. During the War, each character begins to bare the responsibility of their own actions once they begin to create conflicts within different warrior dyads. For example, prior to the conflict—once the Trojans and Achaian’s agreed to battle over the “sake of Helen and all her possessions…[which of whom] who wins and is proved stronger, [let’s] him take the possessions fairly and