Download Surname Introduction The Greek mythology is the body of teachings

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Introduction
The Greek mythology is the body of teachings and beliefs belonging to the ancient Greeks that
concern the nature of the world, their heroes, gods and the significance and the origins of their
ritual practices and cult (Payment 65). Greek mythology was part of the Greek religion. This
paper discusses Helen of Troy in relation to the Greek mythology. According to the Greek
mythology, Helen of Troy, a daughter of one of the Greek’s gods Zeus was the most beautiful
woman in the world (George 207). She is most popular for the role she played in the break out of
the Trojan War.
The argument in this paper is that Helen is responsible for the break out of the Trojan War. There
are several sources which support this argument and have been used to strengthen the argument.
In this paper, an overview of Helen’s life before and after the spell of Aphrodite is discussed.
The Helen of Troy
The first record of Helen appears in the poems of Homer and dates back to the Mycenaean age.
She was a daughter to Zeus and Leda and wife to the Spartan king Menelaus according to most
sources such as Llanas (56). Helen had many suitors who were interested in marrying because of
her beauty and among them it s Menelaus who emerged victorious.
The etymology of Helen’s name has been a problem to many scholars. One of them, George
Curtius related her name to the moon, while another one Émile Boisacq suggests that the name
is derived from the noun ‘torch’ (Meyer 23).
One of the earliest sources to report the account of birth of Helen reported that although
Tyndareus was her putative father, she was actually Zeus. An eagle in the form of a swan chased
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the king of gods and went to seek refuge with Leda. The two become affectionate and mated and
Leda produced an egg which hatched to Helen. The source goes ahead to state that the night
Leda conceived Helen, she had intercourse with both Zeus and Tyndareus. This explains why
some sources support that Helen was born to Tyndareus while others suggest that Zeus was the
father.
An epic poem of Greek literature explains that Cypria, Helen was known to be the daughter of
Zeus and Nemesis. Nemesis did not intend to mate with the Zeus according to Cypria and
therefore she changed her shape to different animals in attempt to flee Zeus (Strauss 142). She
finally became a goose. Zeus also changed himself into a goose and mated with her.
Consequently, Nemesis produced an egg from which a baby came out, Helen. A similar story
was told by Pseudo-Eratosthenes but the difference was instead of Zeus and Nemesis changing
into geese, they changed into swans.
He remains of the egg could still be traced in the middle of the 2nd century AD. They were
suspended from a temple tied up in ribbons.
Theseus and Pirithous, who were two Athenians believed that they should marry divine wives
since they were sons of gods. Theseus chose to marry Helen and took her away. He then left her
under the care of his mother (George 241).
Helen had many suitors who wanted to marry her as mentioned above. Several kings and princes
came forward and brought gifts or in some cases sent emissaries to act on their behalf. Tyndareus
was the final decision maker concerning who would marry Helen. Her future husband did not
even come to bring gifts but instead he sent his brother to represent him.
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Tyndareus was afraid to send any of the suitors away or choose a man to marry his daughter
because he feared offending them or causing quarrel. Odysseus was among the suitors but did
not bring any gifts because he had a very little chance to get to marry Helen (Meyer 67).
Menelaus won the contest and married Helen and her father slaughtered a horse in celebration.
Bothe Menelaus and Helen became rulers of Sparta. They ruled Sparta for about 10 years and
together had three children; a daughter and two sons.
Menelaus and Helen’s marriage was significant to the age of heroes because it marked the end of
its beginning. A Trojan prince Paris came to claim Helen. Helen’s elopement with Paris marked
the beginning of the Trojan War. The battle was fought for nine years and in the tenth year both
Menelaus and Paris agreed to have Helen as the judge in a single combat of the warriors from
both sides (Alexander 541). The Greeks won the war although Paris did not get hurt as he was
escaped by the Aphrodite in a cloud before he was attacked by the angered Menelaus.
Some authors such as Herodotus, Stesichorus and Euripides claim that Helen never went to Troy
but instead stayed in Egypt.
When Menelaus realized that his wife Helen was missing, he urged all the other suitors to come
and fulfill their oaths and this led to the break out of the war.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is clear that Helen of Troy had something to do with the break out
of the Trojan War. Because of her beauty, many men from all over the world were interested in
marrying her. She finally married Menelaus but while still married to him, prince Paris of Trojan
eloped with her and this marked the beginning of the war. According to some authors such as
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Llanas (213), Helen was abducted by Paris while others argued that she willingly fled away with
him.
Works Cited
Alexander, C. 2009. The war that killed Achilles : the true story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan
War. New York, N.Y. : Viking
George, M. 2006. Helen of Troy. New York : Viking
Llanas, G. 2009. Helen of Troy. Mankato, Minn. : Capstone Press
Meyer, C. 2013. Beauty's daughter : the story of Hermione and Helen of Troy. Boston; New
York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Payment, S. 2006. Greek Mythology. New York : Rosen Pub. Group
Strauss, S. 2006. The Trojan War : a new history. New York : Simon & Schuster