When a figure is known for have " the cheek that launched a thousand ships , " they ’re rebound to pique plenty of interest and curiosity . While many people may be conversant with this Christopher Marlowe melody from " Doctor Faustus , " they may not be as familiar with his intake : Helen of Troy . Otherwise hump as Helene or Helen of Sparta , the mythologic figure isa characterin Homer ’s epic poem , " The Iliad , " who is describe as the most beautiful woman of Greece . She ’s also been blame for unknowingly trip the Trojan War ( which some might say is unjust considering the fault really lies with the serviceman fighting over her ) . But there ’s much more to Helen than many clear , and her report is one more piece of the absorbing , unified puzzler of Grecian mythology .
Like many players in Greek mythology , Helen ’s family life is a little complicated . " The most important part of Helen ’s bio — aside from the fact that she was the prompt ground for the Trojan War being fought — is that she ’s the daughter of the chief godZeus , " saysRichard P. Martin , Antony and Isabelle Raubitschek prof in classic at California ’s Stanford University , in an e-mail interview . " Her female parent was a deadly , Leda , who was matrimonial to Tyndareus of Sparta . " According to Martin , Zeus — a headmaster of camouflage — took on the form of a swan to seduce Leda and she produced two testis , resulting in four materialisation : the girls Helen and Clytemnestra , and the boys Castor and Polydeuces ( well known by their Latin name calling Castor and Pollux — the " Gemini " or counterpart ) . " Helen and her babe grew up to marry two brother , Menelaus and Agamemnon , severally , " Martin says .
Helen ’s history as an important mythological bod run deep . " Helen was worshipped as a goddess in Sparta in historical times , " Martin aver . " She was specially associated with springs of piss and tree . Rituals convey out by missy nearing the old age of marriage were dedicated to her . "
Helen and The Trojan War
So why is Helen implicated in the commencement of theTrojan War , the fabled Bronze Age conflict between the other Greeks and the people of Troy?Experts still debate which portions of the warfare were ground in realityand which were fabricated by creatives like Homer and Virgil . So how does Helen fit into the most popular translation of the story ?
" Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece and had many suitors , " Martin says . " Her sire made them all swear that they would add up to the aid of whichever wooer won Helen ’s hired man in marriage , should anything happen to her . He chose Menelaus to be her husband . The pair lived in Sparta and had a girl , Hermione . "
harmonise to Martin , while Helen and Menelaus start their domestic life sentence together , a untested prince from Troy on the other side of Aegean Sea named Paris was asked to judge a mantrap contest among the goddesses : Hera(Zeus ’s wife),AthenaandAphrodite .
" Each promise achiever in her own extra champaign , " Martin says . " Hera offered rule as a king , Athena offered wisdom , and Aphrodite dangled Helen as a bribe — and of row Paris proceeded to judge the sex goddess to be the fairest . "
Martin read that when Paris went to visit Menelaus , he seduced Helen and sailed back with her to Troy , prompting the leading warrior of Greece ( who , had until recently , been the 1 contend for Helen ’s care ) to join Agamemnon and Menelaus in acquire her back from Paris . " But he would not permit her go , and so a ten - yr siege of Troy by the Greeks began , finish only with the artifice of the Trojan Horse that turn on the Grecian fighters to secretly enter the citadel and set it aflame , " Martin say . " Menelaus eventually catch his married woman back when the Greeks conquer the metropolis . "
The “Face That Launched a Thousand Ships”
As far as that celebrated furrow about her face , Martin explain how Helen descend to be defined by a seventeenth century literary description . It refers to the Hellenic fleet that went in pursuit of Helen , and it comes from a cable in a play foretell " The Tragical account of Dr. Faustus , " published in 1604 by a contemporary of Shakespeare named Christopher Marlowe , " he says . " The main character , Faustus , wants power at all costs and makes a softwood with an companion of the devil , that he will trade his soul provided he is give the service of malign John Barleycorn for 24 hours . So he gets the ability to mobilize spirits of the long - dead , the most impressive being Helen of Troy , whom he takes as a fan . "
For further context , here are the line with which Faustus recognise Helen :
But while Helen is often known for her role in Grecian mythology , she has cosmopolitan entreaty . " The story of Helen has deep connection with a folktale plot that is found all over the humans , set out in ancient Egypt — the ' beautiful married woman abducted , ' " Martin says . " There is a terrific recent book on all the many version , written by Lowell Edmunds : " steal Helen : The Myth of the Abducted Wife in Comparative Perspective . "
HowStuffWorks may make a small committal from affiliate links in this article .
