Editing Helen of Troy (section)

== Mythology ==
=== Birth ===
[[File:Leda and the Swan 1505-1510.jpg|thumb|upright|''Leda and the Swan'' by [[Cesare da Sesto]] ({{circa|1506}}–1510, [[Wilton, Wiltshire|Wilton]]). The artist has been intrigued by the idea of Helen's unconventional birth; she and Clytemnestra are shown emerging from one [[ab ovo|egg]]; Castor and Pollux from another.]]
[[File:Antonio Canova-Helen of Troy-Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Helen of Troy wearing a [[pileus (hat)|pileus]]]]
In most sources, including the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]'', Helen is the daughter of [[Zeus]] and of [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]], the wife of the Spartan king [[Tyndareus]].<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', III, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D3%3Acard%3D191 199], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D3%3Acard%3D381 418], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D3%3Acard%3D421 426]; ''Odyssey'', IV, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D4%3Acard%3D183 184], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D4%3Acard%3D219 219]; XXIII, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D23%3Acard%3D181 218].<br />* Gantz, ''Early Greek Myth'', 318&ndash;9</ref> [[Euripides]]' play ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'', written in the late 5th century BC, is the earliest source to report the most familiar account of Helen's birth: that, although her putative father was Tyndareus, she was actually Zeus' daughter. In the form of a swan, the king of gods was chased by an eagle, and sought refuge with Leda. The swan gained her affection, and the two mated. Leda then produced an [[ab ovo|egg]], from which Helen emerged.<ref>Euripides, ''Helen'' [http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0100 16–21] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410015050/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0100 |date=2016-04-10 }}, [http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0100&layout=&loc=257 257–59] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410015052/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0100&layout=&loc=257 |date=2016-04-10 }}</ref> The First [[Vatican Mythographer]] introduces the notion that two eggs came from the union: one containing [[Castor and Pollux]]; one with Helen and [[Clytemnestra]]. Nevertheless, the same author earlier states that Helen, Castor and Pollux were produced from a single egg.<ref>First Vatican Mythographer, VM I 204.<br />* Gantz, ''Early Greek Myth'', 320–321; Hughes, ''Helen of Troy'', 350; Moser, ''A Cosmos of Desire'', 443–444</ref> [[Fabius Planciades Fulgentius]] also states that Helen, Castor and Pollux are born from the same egg.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Whitbread|first=Leslie George|title=Fulgentius the Mythographer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=73mJIuYfmzEC|year=1972|publisher=Ohio State University Press|page=78|isbn=9780814201626}}</ref> [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Pseudo-Apollodorus]] states that Leda had intercourse with both Zeus and Tyndareus the night she conceived Helen.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'', III, 10.[http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022&layout=&loc=3.10.7 7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410015055/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022&layout=&loc=3.10.7 |date=2016-04-10 }}</ref>

On the other hand, in the ''[[Cypria]]'', part of the [[Epic Cycle]], Helen was the daughter of Zeus and the goddess [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]].<ref name="Cypria">''Cypria'', fr. 9 ''PEG''.</ref> The date of the ''Cypria'' is uncertain, but it is generally thought to preserve traditions that date back to at least the 7th century&nbsp;BC. In the ''Cypria'', Nemesis did not wish to mate with Zeus. She therefore changed shape into various animals as she attempted to flee Zeus, finally becoming a goose. Zeus also transformed himself into a goose and raped Nemesis, who produced an egg from which Helen was born.<ref>[[Athenaeus]] 8.334b-d, quoting the ''Cypria''; ''Cypria'', fr. 10 ''PEG''.</ref> Presumably, in the ''Cypria'', this egg was somehow transferred to Leda.<ref group=lower-alpha>In the 5th century comedy "Nemesis" by [[Cratinus]], Leda was told to sit on an egg so that it would hatch, and this is no doubt the egg that was produced by Nemesis (Cratinus fr. 115 ''PCG''; Gantz, ''Early Greek Myth'', ''ibid'').</ref> Later sources state either that it was brought to Leda by a shepherd who discovered it in a grove in [[Attica]], or that it was dropped into her lap by [[Hermes]].<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'', III, 10.[http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022&layout=&loc=3.10.7 7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410015055/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022&layout=&loc=3.10.7 |date=2016-04-10 }}<br />* Hard & Rose, ''The Roudledge Handbook'', 438–439</ref>

Asclepiades of Tragilos and [[Pseudo-Eratosthenes]] related a similar story, except that Zeus and Nemesis became swans instead of geese.<ref>Asclepiades 12F11, Pseudo-Eratosthenes ''Catast.'' 25.</ref> [[Timothy Gantz]] has suggested that the tradition that Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan derives from the version in which Zeus and Nemesis transformed into birds.<ref>Gantz, ''Early Greek Myth'', ''ibid''</ref>

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] states that in the middle of the 2nd century&nbsp;AD, the remains of an egg-shell, tied up in ribbons, were still suspended from the roof of a temple on the Spartan acropolis. People believed that this was "the famous egg that legend says Leda brought forth". Pausanias traveled to Sparta to visit the sanctuary, dedicated to [[Hilaeira]] and [[Phoebe (mythology)|Phoebe]], in order to see the relic for himself.<ref>Pausanias, 3.16.[http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.16.1 1]<br />* Hughes, ''Helen of Troy'', 26–27</ref>

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] also says that there was a local tradition that Helen's brothers, "the [[Dioscuri]]" (i.e. Castor and Pollux), were born on the island of [[Pefnos]], adding that the Spartan poet [[Alcman]] also said this,<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D26%3Asection%3D2 3.26.2]</ref> while the poet [[Lycophron]]'s use of the adjective "Pephnaian" (''Πεφναίας'') in association with Helen, suggests that Lycophron may have known a tradition which held that Helen was also born on the island.<ref>Hornblower, [https://books.google.com/books?id=NprxCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 p. 142]; [[Lycophron]], 87</ref>

=== Youthful abduction by Theseus ===
[[File:Theseus pursuit Louvre G423.jpg|left|thumb|[[Theseus]] pursuing a woman, probably Helen. Side A from an Attic red-figure bell-krater, c.&nbsp;440–430&nbsp;BC ([[Louvre]], Paris).]]
Two [[Ancient Athens|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 (mother of Theseus)|Aethra]] or his associate Aphidnus at [[Afidnes|Aphidnae]] or [[Athens]]. Theseus and Pirithous then traveled to the [[Greek underworld|underworld]], the domain of Hades, to kidnap Persephone. Hades pretended to offer them hospitality and set a feast, but, as soon as the pair sat down, snakes coiled around their feet and held them there. Helen's abduction caused an invasion of Athens by Castor and Pollux, who captured Aethra in revenge, and returned their sister to Sparta.<ref>The most complete accounts of this narrative are given by Apollodorus, Diodorus 4.63.1–3, and Plutarch, ''Theseus'' 31–34. For a collection of ancient sources narrating Helen's abduction by Theseus, see Hughes, ''Helen'', 357; Mills, ''Theseus'', 7–8</ref>  In [[Goethe]]'s ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]'', Centaur [[Chiron]] is said to have aided the Dioscuri brothers in returning Helen home.

In most accounts of this event, Helen was quite young; [[Hellanicus of Lesbos]] said she was seven years old and [[Diodorus]] makes her ten years old.<ref>Hellanicus, 4F134; Diodorus Siculus, 4.63.1–3</ref> On the other hand, [[Stesichorus]] said that [[Iphigenia]] was the daughter of Theseus and Helen, which implies that Helen was of childbearing age.<ref>Stesichorus, fr. 191 PMG.</ref> In most sources, Iphigenia is the daughter of [[Agamemnon]] and [[Clytemnestra]], but [[Duris of Samos]] and other writers, such as [[Antoninus Liberalis]], followed Stesichorus' account.<ref>Gantz, pp. 289, 291.</ref>

[[Ovid]]'s ''[[Heroides]]'' give us an idea of how ancient and, in particular, [[Latin literature#The Golden Age|Roman authors]] imagined Helen in her youth: she is presented as a young princess wrestling naked in the [[palaestra]], alluding to a part of girls' physical education in classical (not Mycenaean) Sparta. [[Sextus Propertius]] imagines Helen as a girl who practices arms and hunts with her brothers:<ref>Ovid, ''Heroides'', 16.[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid/ovid.her16.shtml 149–152]; Propertius, [http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/PropertiusBkThree.htm#_Toc201112469 3.14]<br />* Cairns, ''Sextus Propertius'', 421–422; Hughes, ''Helen of Troy'', 60; Pomeroy, ''Spartan Women'', 28: "In the Roman period, because Sparta was a destination for tourists, the characteristics that made Sparta distinctive were emphasized. The athleticism of women was exaggerated."</ref>
{{blockquote|[...] or like Helen, on the sands of Eurotas, between Castor and Pollux, one to be victor in boxing, the other with horses: with naked breasts she carried weapons, they say, and did not blush with her divine brothers there.}}

=== Suitors ===
{{Main|Suitors of Helen}}
[[File:Maerten van Heemskerck - Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World - Walters 37656.jpg|thumb|In this painting by [[Maarten van Heemskerck]] Helen, queen of the Greek city-state Sparta, is abducted by Paris, a prince of Troy in Asia Minor.<ref>{{cite web |publisher= [[The Walters Art Museum]]
 |url=http://art.thewalters.org/detail/21286
 |title= Panorama with the Abduction of Helen Amidst the Wonders of the Ancient World}}</ref> The Walters Art Museum.]]

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.<ref>In the Hesiodic ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' fr. 198.7–8, and 199.0–1, they are the recipients of the bridal presents. For further details, see ''A Catalog within a Catalog'', 133–135</ref> Menelaus, her future husband, did not attend but sent his brother, [[Agamemnon]], to represent him. He was chosen as he had the most wealth.<ref>Hesiod. [https://archive.org/details/hesiod-the-shield.-catalogue-of-women.-other-fragments-loeb/page/223/mode/1up Catalogue of Women, Bk 5.]</ref>

=== Oath of Tyndareus ===
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. [[Odysseus]] was one of the suitors, but had brought no gifts because he believed he had little chance to win the contest. He thus promised to solve the problem, if Tyndareus in turn would support him in his courting of [[Penelope]], the daughter of [[Icarius]]. Tyndareus readily agreed, and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband against whoever should quarrel with him. After the suitors had sworn not to retaliate, Menelaus was chosen to be Helen's husband because he was the "greatest in possessions" and had offered the most gifts.<ref>[https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Catalogue of Women, frag. 68]</ref> As a sign of the importance of the pact, Tyndareus [[Horse sacrifice|sacrificed a horse]].<ref>Hesiod, ''Catalogs of Women and Eoiae'', fr. 204; Hyginus, ''Fables'', [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html#78 78]; Pausanias, 3.20.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+3.20.9&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 9]; Apollodorus, 3.10.[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D10%3Asection%3D9 9]<br />* Cingano, ''A Catalog within a Catalog'', 128; Hughes, ''Helen of Troy'', 76</ref> 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 (mythology)|Hermione]], and (according to some myths) three sons: [[Aethiolas]], Maraphius, and [[Pleisthenes]].

The marriage of Helen and Menelaus marks the beginning of the end of the age of heroes. Concluding the catalog of Helen's suitors, Hesiod reports 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.<ref>''Cypria'', fr. 1; Hesiod, ''Catalogs of Women and Eoiae'', fr. 204.96–101<br />* Edmunds, ''Helen's Divine Origins'', 7–8</ref>

=== Seduction or kidnapping by Paris ===
{{See also|Judgement of Paris}}
[[File:Casa degli Amorini Dorati (Pompei) WLM 020.JPG|thumb|Meeting between Paris and Helen. Antique fresco in [[Pompeii]], the House of the Golden Cupids]]
[[Paris (mythology)|Paris]], a Trojan prince, came to Sparta to claim Helen, in the guise of a supposed diplomatic mission. Before this journey, Paris had been appointed by Zeus to [[Judgement of Paris|judge the most beautiful goddess]]; [[Hera]], [[Athena]], or [[Aphrodite]]. In order to earn his favour, 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]].

Although Helen is sometimes depicted as being forcibly abducted by Paris, most Ancient Greek sources, following [[Homer]], believed that Helen fell in love with the Trojan prince, and went to Troy willingly.<ref>Grimal, s.v. Helen.</ref> In [[Homer]], Helen herself says she followed Paris,<ref>Homer. [[Iliad]], Bk 3.</ref> or that she was led to Troy by Aphrodite.<ref>Homer. [[Odyssey]], Bk 4.</ref> Herodotus, who says Paris "carried off" (''ἁρπάσαντος'') Helen,<ref>Herodotus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.2 1.3.2].</ref> states Paris "got her to fly" with him.<ref>Herodotus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.115.5 2.115.5].</ref> The ''Cypria'' simply mentions that after giving Helen gifts, "Aphrodite brings the Spartan queen together with the Prince of Troy."<ref>''Cypria'', fr. 1; Herodotus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+2.113&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 2.113–119], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.115 215].</ref> [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] says Paris persuaded Helen to leave with him,<ref>Apollodorus. Library, [https://topostext.org/work/837#e.3.3 e.3.3.]</ref> and [[Sappho]] argues that Helen willingly left behind Menelaus and their daughter, [[Hermione (mythology)|Hermione]], to be with Paris:
{{blockquote|<poem>
Some say a host of horsemen, others of infantry and others
   of ships, is the most beautiful thing on the dark earth
   but I say, it is what you love
Full easy it is to make this understood of one and all: for
   she that far surpassed all mortals in beauty, Helen her
   most noble husband
Deserted, and went sailing to Troy, with never a thought for
   her daughter and dear parents.</poem>|Sappho, [[Sappho's Fragment 16|fragment 16]] (Voigt)<ref>Sappho, fr. 16. See an analysis of the poem by Gumpert, ''Grafting Helen'', 92</ref> }}

[[Dio Chrysostom]] gives a completely different account of the story, questioning Homer's credibility: after Agamemnon had married Helen's sister, Clytemnestra, Tyndareus sought Helen's hand for Menelaus for political reasons. However, Helen was sought by many suitors, who came from far and near, among them Paris who surpassed all the others and won the favor of Tyndareus and his sons. Thus he won her fairly and took her away to Troia, with the full consent of her natural protectors.<ref>Dio Chrysostom, ''Discourses'', 1.[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dio_Chrysostom/Discourses/11*.html 37–53]<br />* Hughes, ''Helen of Troy'', 128–129</ref> ''Cypria'' narrate that in just three days Paris and Helen reached Troy. Homer narrates that during a brief stop-over in the small island of [[Kranai]], according to ''Iliad'', the two lovers consummated their passion. On the other hand, ''Cypria'' note that this happened the night before they left Sparta.<ref>''Cypria'', fr. 1; Homer, ''Iliad'', III, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D3%3Acard%3D421 443–445]<br />* Cyrino, "Helen of Troy", 133–134</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
Girolamo Genga L'enlèvement d'Hélène.JPG|''[[The Abduction of Helen (Genga)|The Abduction of Helen]]'', painting by [[Girolamo Genga]], circa 1510 ([[Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg]]). 
File:Francesco Primaticcio 003.jpg|In western painting, Helen's journey to Troy is usually depicted as a forced abduction. ''The Rape of Helen'' by [[Francesco Primaticcio]] (c.&nbsp;1530–1539, [[Bowes Museum]]) is representative of this tradition.
File:Enlèvement d'Hélène, Reni (Louvre INV 539) 09.jpg|In [[Guido Reni]]'s painting (1631, Louvre, Paris), however, Paris holds Helen by her wrist (as he already did in Genga's painting shown here on the left), and they leave together for Troia.
File:Tintoretto Rape of Helen.jpg|''The Rape of Helen'' by [[Tintoretto]] (1578–1579, [[Museo del Prado]], [[Madrid]]); Helen languishes in the corner of a land-sea battle scene.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Michael |last=Kimmelman | title=Lights! Darks! Action! Cut! Maestro of Mise-en-Scène |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/arts/design/01tint.html |journal=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 1, 2007 |access-date=July 11, 2009}}<br />* {{cite magazine |last=Schjeldahl |first=Peter|date=February 12, 2007 |title=Venetial Brass |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |url=https://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2007/02/12/070212craw_artworld_schjeldahl |access-date=July 11, 2009}}</ref>
File:Enrique Simonet - El Juicio de Paris.jpg|''[[El Juicio de Paris (Simonet)|El Juicio de Paris]]'' by [[Enrique Simonet]], c. 1904. This painting depicts Paris' judgement. He is inspecting Aphrodite, who is standing naked before him. Hera and Athena watch nearby.
</gallery>

In her book ''Helen of Troy: Myth, Beauty, Devastation'', Ruby Blondell posits, "Though [Helen's] departure is typically referred to as an 'abduction', none of our sources claims that Paris took Helen by force against her will. Her complicity is essential to her story".<ref>Blondell, Ruby (2013). [https://archive.org/details/helenoftroybeaut0000blon. Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation.] {{ISBN|9780199731602}}.</ref>

=== In Egypt ===
At least three Ancient Greek authors denied that Helen ever went to Troy; instead, they suggested, Helen stayed in Egypt during the Trojan War. Those three authors are Euripides, Stesichorus, and Herodotus.<ref>Allan, ''Introduction'', 18–28</ref><ref>[https://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/mythology/helen.html HELEN] wsu.edu</ref> In the version put forth by Euripides in his play ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'', [[Hera]] fashioned a likeness (''[[Eidolon (apparition)|eidolon]]'', εἴδωλον) of Helen out of clouds at Zeus' request, [[Hermes]] took her to Egypt, and Helen never went to Troy, but instead spent the entire war in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]. An ''eidolon'' is also present in [[Stesichorus]]' account, but not in Herodotus' rationalizing version of the myth. In addition to these accounts, [[Lycophron]] (822) states that [[Hesiod]] was the first to mention Helen's ''eidolon''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Smoot|first=Guy|year=2012|title=Did the Helen of the Homeric Odyssey ever go to Troy?|url=https://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/4643|journal=Washington, D.C.: Center for Hellenic Studies|via=The Center for Hellenic Studies|access-date=2018-11-04|archive-date=2018-11-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105012352/https://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/4643|url-status=dead}}</ref> This may mean Hesiod stated this in a literary work, or that the idea was widely known/circulated in early archaic Greece during the time of Hesiod and was consequently attributed to him.<ref name=":0" />

[[Herodotus]] adds weight to the "Egyptian" version of events by putting forward his own evidence—he traveled to Egypt and interviewed the priests of the temple (''Foreign Aphrodite'', ξείνη Ἀφροδίτη) at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]].  According to these priests, Helen had arrived in Egypt shortly after leaving Sparta, because strong winds had blown Paris's ship off course.  King [[Proteus of Egypt]], appalled that Paris had seduced his [[Xenia (Greek)|host's]] wife and plundered his host's home in Sparta, disallowed Paris from taking Helen to Troy.  Paris returned to Troy without a new bride, but the Greeks refused to believe that Helen was in Egypt and not within Troy's walls. Thus, Helen waited in Memphis for ten years, while the Greeks and the Trojans fought. Following the conclusion of the Trojan War, Menelaus sailed to Memphis, where Proteus reunited him with Helen.<ref>Herodotus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+2.113&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 113–120]; Kim, ''Homer, poet and historian'', 30–35; Allan, ''Introduction'', 22–24; Lindsay, ''Helen in the Fifth Century'', 135–138</ref>

=== 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 [[Avlida|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. In Euripides ''[[Iphigenia in Aulis]]'', 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''".<ref>{{cite book |author=Euripides |title=Iphigenia in Aulis |at= 1166–1170 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0108%3Acard%3D1146}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Hughes |title=Helen of Troy |pages=195–196}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="300px">
File:Leighton Helen of Troy.jpg|''Helen on the Ramparts of Troy'' was a popular theme in late 19th-century art – seen here a depiction by [[Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton|Frederick Leighton]].
File:Helen Moreau.jpg|In a similar fashion to Leighton, [[Gustave Moreau]] depicts an expressionless Helen; a blank or anguished face.
File:Often she would stand upon the walls of Troy.jpg|[[Lithograph]]ic illustration by Walter Crane
File:Hélène.jpg|Paul Dujardin after Gustave Moreau, ''Hélène'', photogravure, 1880
</gallery>

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. A popular theme, ''The Request of Helen'' (Helenes Apaitesis, Ἑλένης Ἀπαίτησις), was the subject of a drama by [[Sophocles]], now lost.<ref group=lower-alpha>Ancient writers do not agree on whether the embassy was dispatched before the gathering of the Greek army in Aulis or after it reached Tenedos or Troia. In Herodotus' account the Trojans swore to the Greek envoys that Helen was in Egypt, not in Troy; but the Greeks did not believe them, and laid siege to the city, until they took it.<br />{{cite book |title=Cypria |at=fr. 1}}<br />{{cite book |author=Herodotus |title=Histories |at=II, 118: 2–4 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D118%3Asection%3D2}}<br />{{cite book |author=Homer |title=Iliad |at=III, 205 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D3%3Acard%3D191}}<br />{{cite book |author=Pseudo-Appolodorus |title=Epitome |at=28–29 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DEpitome%3Abook%3DE%3Achapter%3D3%3Asection%3D28}}</ref><ref>About Euripides' lost drama, see {{cite book |author=Hughes |title=Helen of Troy |page=191}}</ref>

Homer paints a poignant, lonely picture of Helen in Troy. She 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:<ref name="Hughes 219">{{cite book |author=Hughes |title=Helen of Troy |page=219}}</ref><ref name="Redfold 122">{{cite book |author=Redfold |title=The Tragedy of Hector |page=122}}</ref>
{{blockquote|<poem>
Wherefore I wail alike for thee and for my hapless self with grief at heart;
for no longer have I anyone beside in broad Troy that is gentle to me or kind;
but all men shudder at me.<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |title=Iliad |at=XXIV, 773–775 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D24%3Acard%3D746}}</ref></poem>}}

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:<ref name="Redfold 122" /><ref>{{cite book |author=Suzuki |title=Metamorphoses of Helen |page=36}}</ref>{{blockquote|<poem>
Howbeit, seeing the gods thus ordained these ills,
would that I had been wife to a better man,
that could feel the indignation of his fellows and their many revilings. [...]
But come now, enter in, and sit thee upon this chair, my brother,
since above all others has trouble encompassed thy heart
because of shameless me, and the folly of Alexander.<ref>{{cite book |author=Homer |title=Iliad |at=VI, 349–351, 354–356 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D24%3Acard%3D746}}</ref><ref name="Hughes 219"/></poem>|sign=|source=}}

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 ===
[[File:Helen Menelaus Louvre G424.jpg|thumb|right|Helen and Menelaus: Menelaus intends to strike Helen; captivated by her beauty, he drops his sword. A flying [[Eros]] and [[Aphrodite]] (on the left) watch the scene. Detail of an Attic [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] [[krater]] c.&nbsp;450–440&nbsp;BC ([[Paris]], [[Louvre]])]]
[[File:Ajax drags Cassandra from Palladium.jpg|thumb|left|Menelaus captures Helen in Troy, [[Ajax the Lesser]] drags [[Cassandra]] from [[Palladium (classical antiquity)|Palladium]] before eyes of [[Priam]], fresco from the [[Casa del Menandro]], [[Pompeii]]]]

During the fall of Troy, Helen's role is ambiguous. In [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', Deiphobus gives an account of Helen's treacherous stance: when the [[Trojan Horse]] was admitted into the city, she feigned [[Bacchic mysteries|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. In the ''[[Odyssey]]'', however, Homer narrates a different story: Helen circled the Horse three times, and she imitated the voices of the Greek women left behind at home—she thus tortured the men inside (including Odysseus and Menelaus) with the memory of their loved ones, and brought them to the brink of destruction.<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'', IV, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D4%3Acard%3D265 277–289]; Virgil, ''Aeneid'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D6%3Acard%3D494 515–519].<br />* Hughes, ''Helen of Troy'', 220; Suzuki, ''Metamorphoses of Helen'', 99–100.</ref>

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. In ''Aeneid'', [[Aeneas]] meets the mutilated Deiphobus in [[Greek underworld|Hades]]; his wounds serve as a testimony to his ignominious end, abetted by Helen's final act of treachery.<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0054%3Abook%3D6%3Acard%3D494 494–512]<br />* Suzuki, ''Metamorphoses of Helen'', 101–102.</ref>

However, Helen's portraits in Troy seem to contradict each other. From one side, we read about the treacherous Helen who simulated Bacchic rites and rejoiced over the carnage of Trojans. On the other hand, there is another Helen, lonely and helpless; desperate to find sanctuary, while Troy is on fire. Stesichorus narrates that both Greeks and Trojans gathered to stone her to death.<ref>Stesichorus, fr. 201 PMG.</ref> When Menelaus finally found her, he raised his sword to kill her. He had demanded that only he should slay his unfaithful wife; but, when he was ready to do so, she dropped her robe from her shoulders, and the sight of her beauty caused him to let the sword drop from his hand.<ref group=lower-alpha>According to the ancient writers, it was the sight of Helen's face or breasts that made Menelaus drop his sword. See, ''inter alia'', Aristophanes, ''Lysistrata'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0242%3Acard%3D130 155]; ''Little Iliad'', fr. 13 EGF.<br />* Maguire, ''Helen of Troy'', 52</ref> [[Electra]] wails:<ref>Euripides, ''Orestes'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0116%3Acard%3D1286 1286]</ref>
{{blockquote|Alas for my troubles! Can it be that her beauty has blunted their swords?}}

=== Fate ===
Helen returned to [[Sparta]] and lived with Menelaus, where she was encountered by Telemachus in Book 4 of ''[[The Odyssey]]''. As depicted in that account, she and Menelaus were seemingly reconciled and had a harmonious married life—he holding no grudge at her having run away with a lover and she feeling no restraint in telling anecdotes of her life inside besieged Troy.

According to another version, used by [[Euripides]] in his play ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'', Helen had been saved by [[Apollo]] from Orestes<ref>''Euripides and the Gods'', [[Mary R. Lefkowitz]]</ref> and was taken up to [[Mount Olympus]] almost immediately after Menelaus' return. She was then made a sea goddess, who watches over sailors alongside her brothers, [[Castor and Pollux]].<ref>Eurypides, Orestes, lines 1635-1637.</ref> A curious fate is recounted by [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias the geographer]] (3.19.11–13), which has Helen share the afterlife with Achilles.<ref>Blondell, ''Helen of Troy'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=6uEC_Uh-MBIC&pg=PA46 46]</ref>

Pausanias also has another story (3.19.9–10): "The account of the Rhodians is different. They say that when Menelaus was dead, and [[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]] still a wanderer, Helen was driven out by [[Nicostratus (mythology)|Nicostratus]] and [[Megapenthes]] and came to [[Rhodes]], where she had a friend in [[Polyxo (Rhodes)|Polyxo]], the wife of [[Tlepolemus]]. For Polyxo, they say, was an Argive by descent, and when she was already married to Tlepolemus, shared his flight to Rhodes. At the time she was queen of the island, having been left with an orphan boy. They say that this Polyxo desired to avenge the death of Tlepolemus on Helen, now that she had her in her power. So she sent against her when she was bathing handmaidens dressed up as [[Furies]], who seized Helen and hanged her on a tree, and for this reason the Rhodians have a sanctuary of Helen of the Tree."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D3%3Achapter%3D19%3Asection%3D10 |title=Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=2014-03-13}}</ref> There are other traditions concerning the punishment of Helen. For example, she is offered as a sacrifice to the gods in Tauris by [[Iphigeneia]], or [[Thetis]], enraged when Achilles dies because of Helen, kills her on her return journey.<ref>Pierre Grimal, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', ''s.v.'' "Helene p. 241"</ref>

Tlepolemus was a son of [[Heracles]] and Astyoche. Astyoche was a daughter of Phylas, King of Ephyra who was killed by Heracles. Tlepolemus was killed by [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]] on the first day of fighting in the ''[[Iliad]]''. Nicostratus was a son of Menelaus by his concubine Pieris, an Aetolian slave. [[Megapenthes]] was a son of Menelaus by his concubine Tereis, with no further origin.

In [[Euripides]]'s tragedy ''[[Trojan Women|The Trojan Women]]'', Helen is shunned by the women who survived the war and is to be taken back to Greece to face a death sentence. This version is contradicted by two of Euripides' other tragedies, ''[[Electra (Euripides play)|Electra]]'', which predates The Trojan Women, and ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'', as Helen is described as being in Egypt during the events of the Trojan War in each.