Helen of Troy

> *"... did you really think I never try to escape? That I never call upon the powers Father Zeus had gifted me and fought my way out of that wretched kingdom? I had called upon the sky and rained down thunder and lightning onto the cities. I had summoned the storm to swallow the ships of merchants and soldiers alike. I had ordered the spirits of the sky to cause chaos among the people of Troy. And all. For. Nothing. The gods had abandoned me at an unknown land, left me to the mercy of the enemies. And now, I will return the favor."*
>
>

## Helen of Troy

* Human
* Demon

## Characteristics

### Species

Demigoddess (Human/God) (Formerly)
Demigoddess (Demon/God) (Currently)

### Skin Tone

Fair (Human)
Purple (Demon)

### Hair Color

Brown (Human)
Black (Demon)

## Personal Status

### Relatives

* Zeus, Leda (Parents)

**Helen of Troy** was said to have been the most beautiful woman.

## Appearance

As fitting for her title of the "most beautiful woman of the ancient world", Helen possesses ethereal beauty that rivals the deathless goddesses.

She is “white-armed, long robed, and richly tressed", with brown hair slightly curled at the tips and her eyes are supposed to be "dark and shining as slick obsidian". Her voice is described as "low and lovely, carrying to every corner of the hall."

When she walked down the battlefield of Troy, all the soldiers, both Trojans and Achaeans, dropped their weapons and ceased their fighting to marvel at her beauty, which was said to have became greatly faded from years of mourning and anger, leaving her to become a "mere shadow of her former glory".

## History

### Birth

Helen is the daughter of Zeus and Leda, the wife of the Spartan king Tyndareus. Although her putative father was Tyndareus, she was actually Zeus' daughter. In the form of a swan, the king of the gods was chased by an eagle, and sought refuge with Leda. The swan gained her affection, and the two mated. Leda then produced an egg, from which Helen emerged.

### Youthful Abduction by Theseus

Two Athenians, Theseus and Pirithous, thought that since they were sons of gods, they should have divine wives; they thus pledged to help each other abduct two daughters of Zeus. Theseus chose Helen, and Pirithous vowed to marry Persephone, the wife of Hades. Theseus took Helen and left her with his mother Aethra. Helen's abduction caused an invasion of Athens by Castor and Pollux, who captured Aethra in revenge, and returned their sister to Sparta.

### Suitors

When it was time for Helen to marry, many kings and princes from around the world came to seek her hand, bringing rich gifts with them or sent emissaries to do so on their behalf. During the contest, Castor and Pollux had a prominent role in dealing with the suitors, although the final decision was in the hands of Tyndareus. Menelaus, her future husband, did not attend but sent his brother, Agamemnon, to represent him.

Tyndareus was afraid to select a husband for his daughter, or send any of the suitors away, for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. After the suitors had sworn not to retaliate, Menelaus was chosen to be Helen's husband. As a sign of the importance of the pact, Tyndareus sacrificed a horse. Helen and Menelaus became rulers of Sparta, after Tyndareus and Leda abdicated. Menelaus and Helen rule in Sparta for at least ten years; they have a daughter, Hermione.

The marriage of Helen and Menelaus marks the beginning of the end of the age of heroes. Concluding the catalog of Helen's suitors, Zeus' plan to obliterate the race of men and the heroes in particular. The Trojan War, caused by Helen's elopement with Paris, is going to be his means to this end.

### Kidnapped by Paris

Aphrodite, the goddess of love, came to Sparta to claim Helen, in the guise of a supposed diplomatic mission. Before this journey, Paris had been appointed by Zeus to judge the most beautiful goddess; Hera, Athena, or Aphrodite. In order to earn his favor, Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world. Swayed by Aphrodite's offer, Paris chose her as the most beautiful of the goddesses, earning the wrath of Athena and Hera.

### In Troy

When he discovered that his wife was missing, Menelaus called upon all the other suitors to fulfill their oaths, thus beginning the Trojan War.

The Greek fleet gathered in Aulis, but the ships could not sail for lack of wind. Artemis was enraged by a sacrilege, and only the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter, Iphigenia, could appease her. Clytemnestra, Iphigenia's mother and Helen's sister, begs her husband to reconsider his decision, calling Helen a "*wicked woman*". Clytemnestra tries to warn Agamemnon that sacrificing Iphigenia for Helen's sake is, "*buying what we most detest with what we hold most dear*".

Before the opening of hostilities, the Greeks dispatched a delegation to the Trojans under Odysseus and Menelaus; they endeavored without success to persuade Priam to hand Helen back. Helen is filled with self-loathing and regret for what she has caused; by the end of the war, the Trojans have come to hate her. When Hector dies, she is the third mourner at his funeral, and she says that, of all the Trojans, Hector and Priam alone were always kind to her.

These bitter words reveal that Helen gradually realized Paris' weaknesses, and decided to ally herself with Hector. There is an affectionate relationship between the two, and Helen has harsh words for Paris when she compares the two brothers.

After Paris was killed in combat, there was some dispute among the Trojans about which of Priam's surviving sons she should remarry: Helenus or Deiphobus, but she was given to the latter.

### During the Fall of Troy

During the fall of Troy, Helen's role is ambiguous. When the Trojan Horse was admitted into the city, she feigned Bacchic rites, leading a chorus of Trojan women, and, holding a torch among them, she signaled to the Greeks from the city's central tower. After the deaths of Hector and Paris, Helen became the paramour of their younger brother, Deiphobus; but when the sack of Troy began, she hid her new husband's sword, and left him to the mercy of Menelaus and Odysseus.

## Trivia

* She is the original wielder of Katoptris, though not many know whether she actually used it in combat or simply as a mirror.

## Quotes

* *"Sometimes I just miss Sparta, you know. Not the militaristic one, but the one before that - a place of sophisticated music, poetry, and dining. Oh how I remember me and my siblings used to play on the bank of Eurotas while mother and father were behind us, quietly laughing at our antics. Such a simpler time before everything went to hell."*

### About Helen

* *"I don't even know if she was truly kidnapped or not. She has always been the cleverest one of us all. The strategist, the mastermind. She has always been more god than man, and since when did god care if a hundred or thousand men died in their name?"*
* *"At that moment she was worth all the prizes in the center of the hall, and more. She was worth our lives."*