| Helen of Troy | |
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Other Names |
Helen of Troy, Helena, Beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta |
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First Appearance |
Greek Myth |
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Created by |
Greek Myth |
Origin[]
Helen, also known as Helen of Troy, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta "who became by her the father of Hermione, and, according to others, of Nicostratus also." Her abduction by Paris of Troy was the most immediate cause of the Trojan War.
In most sources, including the Iliad and the Odyssey, Helen is the daughter of Zeus and of Leda, the wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus. Euripides' play Helen, written in the late 5th century BC, is the earliest source to report the most familiar account of Helen's birth: that, although her putative father was Tyndareus, she was actually Zeus' daughter. In the form of a swan, the king of gods was chased by an eagle, and sought refuge with Leda. The swan gained her affection, and the two mated. Leda then produced an egg, from which Helen emerged.
Two Athenians, Theseus and Pirithous, thought that since they were sons of gods, they should have divine wives; they thus pledged to help each other abduct two daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen, and Pirithous vowed to marry Persephone, the wife of Hades. Theseus took Helen and left her with his mother Aethra or his associate Aphidnus at Aphidnae or Athens. Theseus and Pirithous then traveled to the underworld, the domain of Hades, to kidnap Persephone. Hades pretended to offer them hospitality and set a feast, but, as soon as the pair sat down, snakes coiled around their feet and held them there. Helen's abduction caused an invasion of Athens by Castor and Pollux, who captured Aethra in revenge, and returned their sister to Sparta. In Goethe's Faust, Centaur Chiron is said to have aided the Dioscuri brothers in returning Helen home.
Later, Paris, a Trojan prince, came to Sparta to claim Helen, in the guise of a supposed diplomatic mission. Before this journey, Paris had been appointed by Zeus to judge the most beautiful goddess; Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite. In order to earn his favour, Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world. Swayed by Aphrodite's offer, Paris chose her as the most beautiful of the goddesses, earning the wrath of Athena and Hera.
During the fall of Troy, Helen's role is ambiguous. In Virgil's Aeneid, Deiphobus gives an account of Helen's treacherous stance: when the Trojan Horse was admitted into the city, she feigned Bacchic rites, leading a chorus of Trojan women, and, holding a torch among them, she signaled to the Greeks from the city's central tower. In the Odyssey, however, Homer narrates a different story: Helen circled the Horse three times, and she imitated the voices of the Greek women left behind at home—she thus tortured the men inside (including Odysseus and Menelaus) with the memory of their loved ones, and brought them to the brink of destruction.
After the deaths of Hector and Paris, Helen became the paramour of their younger brother, Deiphobus; but when the sack of Troy began, she hid her new husband's sword, and left him to the mercy of Menelaus and Odysseus. In Aeneid, Aeneas meets the mutilated Deiphobus in Hades; his wounds serve as a testimony to his ignominious end, abetted by Helen's final act of treachery.
Helen also appears in various versions of the Faust myth, including Christopher Marlowe's 1604 play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, in which Faustus famously marvels, "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" upon seeing a demon impersonating Helen. The line, which is frequently quoted out of context, is a paraphrase of a statement from Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead. It is debated whether the phrase conveys astonishment at Helen's beauty, or disappointment that she is not more beautiful. The German poet and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe re-envisioned the meeting of Faust and Helen. In Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy, the union of Helen and Faust becomes a complex allegory of the meeting of the classical-ideal and modern worlds.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
All published appearances of Helen of Troy from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- Helen
- Iliad
- Odyssey
- Aeneid
- The Trojan Women
- Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy
- The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Four Color Comics #1311 - Mr. Peabody and Sherman travel back in time to the Trojan Wat and encounter King Prium, Paris, and Helen of Troy.
- Intimate Love #10 - A one page retelling of the romance that led to Trojan War.
- Pep Comics #56 - Captain Commando tells the Japanese about the story of the Trojan Horse and then launches a similar attack.
- Hercules #1- Sent to Nemea to slay the Nemean Lion, Hercules encounters and rescues Helen of Troy from being abducted. She introduced him to Alexander the Great who recruits Hercules to fight a battle against their enemies. After the battle, Hercules returns to his original mission to slay the lion and Alexander and Helen become betrothed.
- National Comics #32 - Uncle Sam and Buddy Smith encounter Jupiter, Venus, Pluto, Mercury, Achilles, Hector, Helen of Troy, and Menelaos.
- Jumbo Comics #43 - Stuart Taylor time travels back to the Trojan War and meets Helen of Troy, Paris, and Menelaus.
- Adventures into the Unknown #116 - Cecil Sebastian shows Philo Yates his time projector which he uses to film historical epics of people such as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Christopher Columbus, Julius Caesar, Noah, and more. However while filming about ancient Egypt, Cecil is accidentally sent back in time and the projector is destroyed. Later an Egyptian tomb is discovered with a mummy buried with Cecil's personal items.
- Konga's Revenge #3 - Konga crashes the movie set of a Trojan War epic being filmed along the Black Sea coast because he becomes smitten by the actress playing Helen of Troy, the beautiful Andrea Barr.
- Tales of Horror #6 - Edgar Tilburt was a petty thief who one day visits an out-of-the-way shop and is shown glass bottles containing live tiny people inside of it, who are actually Genie. For $50 million, the bottle and any Genie is his to make whatever living from it he can. When Edgar tells the shop owner that he only has $5, the owner agrees and sells him the bottled Genie anyway. Treacherous Genie grants Edgar's first wish and summons the most beautiful woman in history and have them be in love with Edgar. The genie summons Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, and Marie Antoinette. However unsatisfied he also has the genie bring him the bottle of the female genie from the shop as well. The two genie trick Edgar into getting into the bottle and he is trapped and sent to the shop where he is sold and then thrown into the ocean by the de-satisfied buyers.