Sex goddess. Whore. Temptress. Adulteress. Victim. Helen of Troy
has been called many things. In the run-up to Christopher Nolan’s
adaptation of The Odyssey later this year, amidst swirling rumours
about who is playing Helen, Mary and Charlotte look beyond the
labels and ask: who was Helen really and what role does she play in
myth? This isn’t an easy question to answer. Accounts of
Helen’s character and life come from myriad sources - many of which
contradict one another. In the first episode of our four-part
series, Mary and Charlotte look at Helen’s early years. She was
born of a rape, when Zeus, disguised as a swan, forced himself upon
Leda, Queen of Sparta. The young Helen was married to Menelaus,
brother of Agamemnon, and became queen of Sparta. The trouble began
hundreds of miles away and the so-called Judgement of Paris.
Paris was the son of King Priam of Troy. In a high-stakes wedding
game (think opening scene of The Godfather), he was asked to choose
which of the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite was most
beautiful. Aphrodite bribed him by promising he could have the most
beautiful mortal woman in the world, conveniently forgetting that
Helen was already married. Paris went to Sparta to collect his
prize. He waited for Menelaus to depart the scene, then took Helen
to Troy. Whether she eloped or was abducted has been debated ever
since. And so… the Trojan War. @instaclassicpod for Insta, TikTok
and YouTube @insta_classics for X email:
instantclassicspod@gmail.com Mary and Charlotte recommend some
further reading: There are many ancient accounts of the Judgement
of Paris and the events leading up to it. You can find the parody
of Lucian here (it’s the last of his Dialogues of the Gods):
https://www.theoi.com/Text/LucianDialoguesGods1.html A more
standard ancient account of Helen’s back story, her marriage and
the judgement of Paris is given by Apollodorus (or
Pseudo-Apollodorus!), writing during the Roman empire, see esp. 3.
10. 7 ff and Epitome 3:
https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#10 and
https://www.theoi.com/Text/ApollodorusE.html#3 For modern
discussions of Helen (relevant to this and our later episodes):
Ruby Blondell, Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation (Oxford UP,
pb, 2015) Bettany Hughes, Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore
(Pimlico, pb, 2013) Instant Classics handmade by Vespucci Producer:
Jonty Claypole Video Editor: Jak Ford Theme music: Casey
Gibson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
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