Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance.
As the story goes, Zeus cohabited with Leda in the form of a swan
on the same night as her husband, King Tyndareus. To the former she
gave birth to Helen and Polydeuces, and to the latter, Clytemnestra
and Castor. In some versions she laid two eggs from which the
children hatched.
Two
Athenians,
Theseus and
Pirithous, pledged to marry daughters of
Zeus. Theseus chose Helen, and he and
Pirithous kidnapped her and decided to hold onto her until she
was old enough to marry. Pirithous chose
Persephone. They left Helen with Theseus' mother,
Aethra and travelled to the underworld, domain of Persephone and
her husband,
Hades. Hades pretended to offer them hospitality and set a
feast; as soon as the pair sat down, snakes coiled around their feet
and held them there.
When it was time for Helen to marry, many Greek kings and princes
came to seek her hand or sent emissaries to do so on their behalf.
Among the contenders were
Odysseus,
Menestheus,
Ajax the Great,
Patroclus and
Idomeneus, but the favourite was
Menelaus who did not come in person but was represented by his
brother
Agamemnon, both of whom were in exile, having fled
Thyestes. All but Odysseus
brought many and rich gifts with
them.
Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any
of the suitors away for fear of offending them and giving grounds
for a quarrel. Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a
satisfactory manner if Tyndareus would support him in his courting
of
Penelope, the daughter of
Icarius. Tyndareus readily agreed and Odysseus proposed that,
before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most
solemn oath to defend the chosen husband against whoever should
quarrel with the chosen one. This stratagem succeeded and Helen and
Menelaus were married. Following Tyndareus' death, Menelaus became
king of Sparta because the only male heirs, Castor and Polydeuces,
had died and ascended to
Mt. Olympus.
Some years later,
Paris, a
Trojan prince came to Sparta to marry Helen, whom he had been
promised by
Aphrodite. Helen fell in love with him and left willingly,
leaving behind Menelaus and
Hermione, their nine-year-old daughter.
Menelaus called upon all the other suitors to fulfill their
oaths, thus beginning the
Trojan War. Virtually all of Greece took part, either attacking
Troy with Menelaus or defending it from them.
Helen's relationship with Paris varies depending on the source of
the story. In some, she loved him dearly (perhaps caused by
Aphrodite, who had promised her to Paris). In others, she was a
cruel, selfish woman who brought disaster to everyone around her,
and she hated him. One version claims
Hermes fashioned a likeness of her out of clouds at
Zeus' request, and Helen never even went to
Troy.
When Paris died in the war, his brother,
Deiphobus, married Helen. He was then killed by Menelaus. Helen
returned to Sparta with Menelaus. After Menelaus' death, Helen was
exiled by their son,
Megapenthes.
This is why Helen was often known as "the face that launched a
thousand ships". Note that the idea of Helen's face launching a
thousand ships is postclassical - it comes from
Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, in which Helen
makes a cameo, but well-remembered, appearance.
"Is this the face that launched a thousand ships And burned the
topless towers of Ilium?"
Homer.
Iliad;
Homer.
Odyssey;
Euripides.
Electra;
Apollodorus.
Bibliotheke III, x,7-xi, 1;
Apollodorus.
Epitome II, 15-III, 6; V, 22; VI, 29;
Plutarch.
Theseus.
An estimation of her life based on the traditional dates of the
Trojan War:
- 1225 BC - Birth of Helen to King
Tyndareus of
Sparta and his wife Leda. Thanks to her beauty she will
later be considered daughter of
Zeus.
- 1213 BC - At the age of twelve Helen is abducted by King
Theseus of
Athens who marries her against her father's and brothers'
consent. During the absence of Theseus, her brothers
Castor and Polydeuces help a revolt by his cousin
Menestheus. Menestheus gains the throne and returns Helen to
her brothers. According to some versions Helen was pregnant and
a few months later gives birth to
Iphigeneia. She trusts her daughter to her married sister
Clytemnestra who will raise her as her own. Soon Menestheus
of Athens and other Kings and princes gather at Sparta as
Helen's suitors.
- 1212 BC -
Tyndareus marries Helen to Menelaus of
Mycenae. Menelaus' brother is King
Agamemnon who is married to Helen's sister
Clytemnestra. Helen soon gives birth to
Hermione. The early deaths of her brothers
Castor and Polydeuces, soon make Menelaus Tyndareus
successor at the throne of
Sparta.
- 1203 BC - After nine years of marriage, Paris of
Troy visits
Sparta and in
Menelaus absence convinces Helen to flee with him. Menelaus
discovers that his wife and guest betrayed him and starts
contemplating war. King
Priam of
Troy marries Helen to Paris. Menelaus preparations of war
and gathering of allies and armie took him ten years according
to some versions.
- 1194 BC - Beginning of the
Trojan War.
- 1184 BC - Paris mortaly wounded in battle.
Priam marries Helen to
Deiphobus, a younger brother of Paris.
-
April 24, 1184 BC - Fall of
Troy. Deiphobus is slain by
Menelaus who reclaimes Helen as his wife. They sail on their
return jurney but get stranded on the soars of
Egypt.
- 1176 BC - After spending eight years in
Egypt, they manage to set sail again and reach the soars of
Peloponnesus. According to
Euripides they visit
Mycenae, arriving shortly after the murders of King
Aegisthus, who was Menelaus first cousin, and Queen
Clytemnestra, who was Helen's sister, by their common nephew
Orestes, the new King of
Mycenae. Orestes attempts to kill his aunt but fails. The
royal couple return to
Sparta.
- 1174 BC - According to the
Odyssey,
Telemachus of
Ithaca visits
Sparta seeking information for his father
Odysseus. Menelaus and Helen reply that they haven't heard
of him since they left Troy ten years ago. They mourn their many
lost relatives and friends.
- 1154 BC - According to
Pausanias, Menelaus dies of old age and natural causes.
Megapenthes, his illegitimate son, seizes the throne and
exiles Helen. He soon loses the throne to his first cousin King
Orestes of
Mycenae who is married to
Hermione, the only legitimate daughter of Menelaus and Helen
and half-sister of Megapenthes. By this point
Orestes had also seized the vacant thrones of
Argos and
Arcadia and becomes the sole ruler of Peloponnesus. Helen
seeks refuge to
Rhodes near Polyxo, widow of Tlepolemus, an old friend of
hers. But Tlepolemus was famously the first man to be killed
during the Trojan War. In revenge for her husband's death,
Polyxo ordered her maidens to pretend to be the ghosts of the
many dead seeking revenge from Helen. Helen committed
suicide by hanging herself from a tree. After her death she
will be deified.
This Helen of Troy Biography Page is Copyright © 2004 - 2009 Chuck Ayoub
