Helen of Troy
heroHelen was the most beautiful woman in the world, daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose abduction by Paris launched the thousand ships of the Trojan War.
The Myth
Helen's beauty was so extraordinary that Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all sought to use it. Her stepfather Tyndareus bound her suitors by oath — Odysseus devised the pact — and she married Menelaus of Sparta. Paris, awarded Aphrodite's favour after judging the goddesses on Mount Ida, took Helen to Troy. Agamemnon and Achilles led the Greek fleet from Aulis after Artemis demanded Iphigenia's sacrifice. Whether Helen went willingly or was enchanted by Aphrodite remains disputed. After Troy fell, Menelaus meant to kill her but dropped his sword at the sight of her. Zeus had willed the war from the start.
Children
Hermione (by Menelaus)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Marlowe's "Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?" from Doctor Faustus gave Helen her most famous epithet — though the phrase was not ancient Greek.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Helen
heroThe most beautiful woman in the world, daughter of Zeus. Her elopement with Paris of Troy triggered...
Paris
heroParis was the Trojan prince whose judgement of three goddesses and abduction of Helen ignited the...
Agamemnon
heroAgamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife...
Leda
heroLeda was the queen of Sparta who was seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan and bore two eggs — from...
Menelaus
heroMenelaus was the king of Sparta whose stolen wife Helen was the cause of the Trojan War — yet he...
Trojan War
conceptThe Trojan War was the central event of Greek mythology — a ten-year siege of Troy by a Greek...
Aphrodite
godGoddess of love and beauty, born from the sea foam. Aphrodite's power to inspire desire was so...
Aphrodite (Golden One)
godThe goddess born from sea-foam whose power over desire could override the will of gods and mortals...
Sparta
placeSparta was the austere military state whose warriors were the most feared in Greece — whose stand...
Troy
placeThe legendary city in Asia Minor besieged by the Greeks for ten years in the Trojan War. Troy's...
Zeus
godSupreme ruler of the Olympian gods and lord of the sky. Zeus overthrew his father Kronos and...
Zeus (King)
godZeus was the king of the Olympian gods, ruler of the sky, wielder of the thunderbolt — the supreme...