Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the major cause of the Trojan War, in which Greece defeated the city of Troy.
Helen was the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Leda, a human being. According to one myth, Zeus appeared in the form of a swan when he visited Leda. Helen later hatched from a swan’s egg. Another myth tells that Zeus mated with Nemesis, the goddess of fate, who gave Leda the egg from which Helen was born.
When Helen was a child, an Athenian hero named Theseus fell in love with her and kidnapped her. Helen’s brothers, Castor and Pollux, rescued her. Many Greek heroes courted Helen, but she married Menelaus, the king of Sparta.
A Trojan prince named Paris visited Sparta and persuaded Helen to return to Troy with him. Menelaus’ brother, Agamemnon, led a Greek army against Troy to win Helen back. Paris was killed during the war. Helen then married Paris’ brother, Deiphobus, who was also killed. After the Greeks captured Troy, Helen and Menelaus were happily reunited.
According to a legend told by the poet Stesichorus, Helen never reached Troy with Paris. She and Paris got as far as Egypt, where she remained as the guest of King Proteus. A phantom of Helen went to Troy in her place. After the war, Menelaus and Helen were reunited in Egypt. Euripides, a Greek playwright of the 400’s B.C., used this version of the myth in his play Helen.
Helen’s personality has long fascinated writers. Some authors have portrayed her as a deceitful woman driven by passion to betray her country and family. But other writers have regarded Helen as an innocent victim of her own beauty.
