Villain, Victim... Double Agent? The Many Lives of Helen of Troy pt 4

Greece gave way to Rome and the Roman Empire too declined, but
Helen of Troy survived. Forever young and relevant, she has been
reimagined by generation after generation. In the last episode of
this mini-series, Mary and Charlotte look at Helen’s enduring
appeal in the modern age.  They show how she appeared in the
poetry of medieval bards, inspired playwright Christopher Marlowe
to create one of the most famous lines in English literature (the
face that launched a thousand ships) - and how Shakespeare, not
wanting to be outdone by Marlowe, said her face launched ‘over’ a
thousand ships.  Mary describes some of her favourite 19th
century paintings of Helen - and discusses the problem of how you
paint a face that, by definition, is more beautiful than the face
of any artist model. Charlotte talks about how that problem
continues in cinema (with a side anecdote about asking Brad Pitt
the wrong question at the launch of the film Troy).  Finally,
Charlotte and Mary compare some of their favourite Helens in modern
literature, including Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad (2005), Pat
Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (2018) and Natalia Haynes’ A
Thousand Ships (2019) @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok and
YouTube @insta_classics for X email: instantclassicspod@gmail.com
Paintings referred to:  G Moreau, Helen at the Scaean Gates
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helene_a_la_porte_scee_-_gustave_moreau_-_2.jpg
F. A Sandys, Helen of Troy
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/helen-of-troy (The
original magazine illustration from which the painting is
excerpted:
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O783702/illustration-to-helen-and-cassandra-print-sandys-frederick/
) E de Morgan, Helen of Troy:
https://www.demorgan.org.uk/collection/helen-of-troy/ Instant
Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer: Jonty Claypole  Video
Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey Gibson   Learn more about
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