Helen of Troy

Hi there guys! this is an old image from 2007 or so ...Helen of Troy, well, the story is well known... she is the daughter of leda, a image I done before

pscs/bamboo/7hours/music:Fairyland - Look Into Lost Years
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Let´s Wikiattack!

Helen of Troy and the Trojan War were central to the early history of ancient Greece.

Helen is the object of one of the most dramatic love stories of all time and one of the main reasons for a ten-year war between the Greeks and Trojans, known as the Trojan War. Hers was the face that launched a thousand ships because of the vast number of warships the Greeks sailed to Troy to retrieve Helen. The poems known as the Trojan War Cycle were the culmination of many myths about the ancient Greek warriors and heroes who fought and died at Troy.

The Trojan War Cycle is based on a story from the legendary period of ancient Greece, a time when it was common to trace lineage to the gods. Helen is said to have been a daughter of the king of the gods, Zeus. Her mother was generally considered to have been Leda, the mortal wife of the king of Sparta, Tyndareus. In some versions, Nemesis, in bird form, is named mother. The Helen-egg was then given to Leda to raise. Clytemnestra was the sister of Helen, but her father wasn't Zeus, but Tyndareus. Helen had two (twin) brothers, Castor and Pollux (Polydeuces). Pollux shared a father with Helen, and Castor with Clytemnestra. The two brothers are called the Dioscuri. There were various stories about this helpful pair of brothers, including one about how they saved the Romans at the Battle of Regillus.

The legendary beauty of Helen attracted men from afar and also those close to home who saw her as a means to the Spartan throne. The first likely mate of Helen was Theseus, hero of Athens, who kidnapped Helen when she was still young. Later Menelaus, brother of the Mycenaean King Agamemnon, married Helen. Agamemnon and Menelaus were sons of King Atreus of Mycenae, and were therefore referred to as Atrides. Agamemnon married the sister of Helen, Clytemnestra, and became king of Mycenae after expelling his uncle. In this way, Menelaus and Agamemnon were not only brothers but brothers-in-law, just as Helen and Clytemnestra were not only sisters, but sisters-in-law.

Of course the most famous mate of Helen was Paris of Troy.Paris (aka Alexander or Alexandros) was the son of King Priam of Troy and his queen, Hecuba, but he was rejected at birth, and raised as a shepherd on Mt. Ida. While living the life of a shepherd, the three goddesses, Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena, appeared to him asking him to award the "fairest" of them the golden apple that Discord had promised one of them. Each goddess offered Paris a bribe, but the bribe offered by Aphrodite appealed to Paris most, so Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite. It was a beauty contest, so it was appropriate that the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, had offered Paris the most beautiful woman on earth for his bride. This woman was Helen. Unfortunately, Helen was taken. She was the bride of Menelaus.

Whether or not there was love between Menelaus and Helen is unclear. In the end, they may have been reconciled, but meanwhile, when Paris came to the Spartan court of Menelaus as a guest, he may have aroused unaccustomed desire in Helen, since in the Iliad, Helen takes some responsibility for her abduction. Menelaus received and extended hospitality to Paris. Then, when Menelaus discovered that Paris had taken off for Troy with Helen and other prized possessions Helen may have considered part of her dowry, he was enraged at this violation of the laws of hospitality. Paris offered to return the stolen possessions in the course of the Iliad, even when he is unwilling to return Helen, but Menelaus wanted Helen, too... And the trojan war begins.