Helen of Troy story: summary
Image: Red Historia
The Greek mythology is full of characters of all kinds, including demigods, heroes and even simple people who face a destiny marked by the Greek gods. One of these characters is Helen of Troy, one of the main causes of the Trojan War and one of the best known mythological characters. To know her life before and after the war, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to talk about a summary on the history of Helen of Troy.
Index
- Life of Helen before the Trojan War
- The figure of Helen in the Trojan War
- Helen after the Trojan War
Life of Helen before the Trojan War.
Helena was the daughter of Zeus and a human Spartan named Leda. Zeus is said to have transformed into a swan to seduce Leda, who was married to Tindáreo, a Spartan king. As a consequence of lying with the two, Leda laid two eggs, Helena and Pollux being born from one, and Castor and Clytemnestra from another. Helena and Pollux were considered children of Zeus, because they were both immortal.
From a young age, Helena was recognized for its great beauty, causing her to have many suitors. One day, while she was participating in a Spartan sacrifice, she was a victim of an abduction, the hero Teseo and a friend of this named Pirítoo being responsible. It was Theseus who stayed with Helena, after casting luck with his friend. The three reached Athens, but the Athenians did not allow Helen to enter, so Theseus marched to Aphidnas. Shortly after, Helena was rescued by the Dioscuri, who were her brothers, taking advantage of the fact that Theseus and Pirítoo had gone to Hades to find a woman for Pirítoo, known as Persephone.
A few years later Helena got married. She had many suitors and her father did not want to choose, fearing that the rejected candidates will start a conflict. Tindáreo made all the suitors promise that they would accept the decision, and that in the event that Helena was kidnapped again, they should all come to her aid. Behind this Helena married Menelaus, with whom she would be happy until Trojan War.
Image: Universal History
The figure of Helen in the Trojan War.
To continue with this summary on the story of Helen of Troy we must talk about Helen's role in the Trojan War both before its onset and during the conflict.
Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, had promised the trojan prince paris, the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, because Paris had chosen her as the most beautiful goddess in a beauty contest in which she had faced Athena and Hera. The most beautiful woman in the world was Helena, so Aphrodite arranged everything for her to fall in love with Paris.
Paris went to Sparta where he was received by Helena and Menelaus. Aphrodite used her power to make Helena fall in love with Paris, and taking advantage of the fact that Menelaus was going to a funeral in Crete, Paris and Helena went to Troy she taking a great treasure with them.
It is not known with certainty how Helen was received when she arrived in Troy, since her arrival predicted a great confrontation against the Greeks. What we do know is that the priestess Cassandra warned that Helen would bring ruin on Troy.
On the other hand, all of Helena's suitors who had sworn to help in case she was abducted, joined their armies to that of Menelaus and they began an attack on Troy, causing the beginning of the Trojan War.
During the war, Helen kept hidden in the palace of Troy, where she spent hours weaving tapestries depicting scenes from the war that was happening outside. Little by little her love for Paris cooled, Helena even got to argue with Aphrodite, when the goddess asked her to take care of her husband after a defeat against Menelaus.
Later, after the death of Paris during the war, Helena married his brother, Deífolo. But the marriage did not last long, the city of Troy being conquered shortly after and her new husband assassinated.
Image: Slideplayer
Helen after the Trojan War.
After the fall of Troy, Helena reconciled with Menelaus and they both returned home. Helen and Menelaus lived happily and peacefully for years, despite the opinion of many of the Greeks who they blamed Helena for the war.
Helena's peace ended when her husband died. According to some sources, after the death of her husband, Helen was expelled from the Peloponnese because they believed that she had failed the Spartans by going to Troy.
After this, she Helena went to Rhodes where she was received by Queen Polyxo who received her with open arms. But the reality is that it was all a trap, since Polyxo's husband had perished in the Trojan War, and the queen blamed Helena for it. Helena was murderedher, being drowned in a bathtub and later hanged thus ending her life.
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