Helen of Troy-Innocent or Guilty

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! ! ! ! ! Helen of Troy: Innocent or Guilty Chrissy Rabuse English 104 Professor Caldwell 29 September 2014

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Rabuse !2 Chrissy Rabuse English 104 Professor Caldwell 29 September 2014 Helen of Troy: Innocent or Guilty Most often in the discussion of Homer’s Iliad, Helen of Troy is depicted as an unfortunate woman, wallowing in the sorrow of men risking their lives for her. She is portrayed as a beautiful maiden who is helpless, stuck amongst the conflict she has no chance of escaping. She cannot change her fate that is given to her by the Gods. There are many instances in the Iliad where the audience will pity Helen. Throughout the novel, Helen is unsure of who to be loyal to: her rightful husband King Menelaus, or Paris, whom Aphrodite forced upon her. She is so upset with Aphrodite that they have a confrontation in Book Three. Readers are led to believe that Helen is an innocent woman who, because of her beauty, is forced into this situation with the Gods. Any reader could easily have sympathy for Helen; she never asked for any of this to happen. However, there are major characteristics about Helen that we, as readers, cannot ignore. Helen, speaking generously, takes bold actions with both the Gods and mortal warriors. In Book Three, Helen expresses her anger to Aphrodite herself. Most mortals would not recognize a God, let alone address them in such a way that would lead that God to threaten them. Helen also tests her waters by trying to convince Paris to continue to fight. She uses mildly offensive words towards Paris, and even goes as far to compare him to his own brother Hector. Helen has a substantive control over both Greek and Trojan parties, which many readers tend to overlook. Although it

Rabuse !3 seems that Helen plays a passive role in the Trojan War, she is really actively involved in the conflict between both parties, mortal and immortal. Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, was destined to be the most beautiful maiden in all of Greece and Troy. Little did she know, however, she would be the cause of Trojan War. To many readers, it may seem that Helen is of little influence to due her lack of appearance in the Iliad. Out of the twenty-four books of the novel, she appears in only three of them: three, six, and twenty-four. In Book Three, Helen makes several entrances which could lead the audience to believe that she is an innocent woman, resenting the grief she has unintentionally caused. There are four instances where Helen is present in Book Three. The first is when Iris comes to Helen when she is weaving a red robe. Homer portrays Helen’s grief in this scene as she weaves the red robe, symbolizing the bloodlust and rage of the Trojan War. In many eyes, this is seen as Helen taking responsibility for initiating the ten year monstrosity of a war. Not only does she mourn for the Trojans, but also the Greeks. She expresses her pity for Menelaus especially after Iris’ visit. Homer explains, “Speaking so the goddess left in her heart sweet longing after her husband of the time before. . . she went forth from the chamber, letting fall a light tear” (Homer 121). This shows Helen’s resentment for the war and suffering both parties must go through. The next incident where Helen appears happens almost immediately after the first; Helen addresses Priam at the Scaean Gate. Here she admits to Priam, “. . . I wish bitter death had been what I wanted, when I came hither following your son. . . now I am worn with weeping” (Homer 121-122). The harsh words she uses when describing her arrival to Troy with Paris to his own father, King of Troy, shows true regret. Helen’s next appearance in Book Three is her confrontation with Aphrodite. Bitter with resentment over Aphrodite’s promise to Paris,

Rabuse !4 she exclaims, “Strange divinity! Why are you still so stubborn to beguile me? . . . Go yourself and sit beside him, abandon the gods’ way. . . I am not going to him. It would be too shameful” (Homer 128). This retort from Helen shows readers that Helen is frustrated to be a game piece of the Gods and is ashamed to have ever caused so much strife between Greece and Troy. Shortly after encountering Aphrodite, Helen addresses Paris, “So you came back from the fighting. Oh, how I wish you had died there beaten down by the stronger man who was once my husband. There was a time before now you boasted that you were better than warlike Menelaos” (Homer 128). Again, Helen uses harsh words to a man she once loved. This shows Helen’s resentment over the bloodshed overpowers passion she once might have had for her husband. The other two books Helen appears in are Books Six and Twenty-Four. In Book Six, Helen and Hector discuss the war and what it means to be a true warrior. The beautiful maiden tells her brother-in-law, “. . . how I wish on that day when my mother bore me the foul whirlwind of the storm had caught me away and swept me to the mountain, or into the wash of the sea deepthundering where the waves would have swept me away before all these things had happened” (Homer 180). At this point, Helen wishes death upon herself due to the tragedy the war has caused. Any reader could easily pity Helen after reading this passage. The appearance Helen makes in Book Twenty-Four is similar to that of Book Six because it involves Hector and Helen’s admiration of her brother-in-law and her indignation toward the war. She speaks these words at Hector’s funeral, “Hektor, of all my lord’s brothers dearest by far to my spirit. . . I should have died when I came. . . I never heard a harsh saying from you, nor an insult” (Homer 517). In honoring Hector, Helen also apologizes to the women of Troy, taking responsibility for

Rabuse !5 the Trojan War. At first glance, it seems that Helen is a caring individual, truly sorry for the damage she has caused between the two parties. However, after analyzing Homer’s text, readers are able to see another side of Helen, a side that shows how much influence she really has over key players in the Trojan War. Although Helen is only in three of the twenty-four books of Homer’s Iliad, the few times she appears are significant parts of the epic. For example, in Helen’s first appearance when Iris comes to visit her, Helen’s red robe stands for something more than just the bloodshed of Trojans and Greeks for the past nine years: the robe itself mocks the stupidity of the war. Here Helen is, weaving a red robe, when the warriors are outside her window, fighting over her. This robe does not symbolize resentment, it resembles her indifference. Helen definitely shows an active role between the parties when she addresses her father-in-law at the Scaean Gate. Helen cozies up to him, calling to him, “Always to me, beloved father, you are feared and respected. . . This now I will tell you in answer to the question you asked me” (Homer 122). Helen is flattering Priam to convince him to believe her and exert her authority over conditions of the war. Helen especially shows her true colors in her confrontation with Aphrodite. “Go yourself. . . turn your feet back never again to the path of Olympos but stay with him forever. . . until he makes you his wedded wife” (Homer 128). Helen is frustrated with the Goddess of Lust, and she uses words that not many a mortal would ever speak to a God. She suggests that Aphrodite should take Paris herself, insinuating she was ungrateful for her marriage with Paris. Helen’s actions toward the Goddess are unacceptable, sparking suspicion in readers that Helen is not as innocent as she initially may seem. This is especially evident in Helen’s confrontation with Paris, in which she claims she wished he had died in the fighting. She claims, “Go forth now and challenge warlike

Rabuse !6 Menelaos. . . You might very well go down before his spear” (Homer 129). Because Helen speaks to Paris with such disdain and goes as far to compare him to her last husband, readers can see that she is playing games with Paris. Helen shames Paris into resuming his place in battle, having an influence over events in the Trojan War. There is an incident in which the beautiful maiden speaks with Hector that also makes readers doubt Helen’s candor. Helen’s discussion with Hector in Book Six is similar to her encounter with Priam in Book Three in that she tries to charm Hector. Helen belittles herself to convince Hector to sympathize for her, claiming herself to be a “nasty bitch evil-intriguing”, but her trickery does not work on Hector (Homer 180). The fact that she is trying to turn Paris’ own brother on him means she goes to desperate measures to manipulate individuals into changing the war the way she wants. Finally her appearance in Book Twenty-Four proves that Helen has indeed played an active role in the Trojan War. When Helen speaks at Hector’s funeral, she honors him in a way that also convinces Trojan men and women to forgive her as well. She mentions, “In this time I have never heard a harsh saying from you[Hector], nor an insult” (Homer 517). In a way, she convinces Trojans to be like the honorable Hector, who in her eyes, was always faithful to his sister-in-law. While invested in reading Homer’s Iliad, it is hard to capture Helen’s true nature, due to the amount of appearances she makes within the epic. However, because of Helen’s apparent indifference to the bloodshed, aggressive behavior toward Aphrodite and Paris, and constant desire for others to pity her, it is clear that Helen is not the passive, innocent figure some people believe. Throughout the epic, Helen degrades herself, craving attention from others, and often plots to turn warriors against each other. Due to the circumstances Helen is in, she uses others’ pity for her to get what she desires. This is evident when she shames Paris into getting him back in battle

Rabuse !7 and speaks to the Trojans at Hector’s funeral, proclaiming that she misses her brother-in-law, convincing them of her good nature. Helen, unchanged from the beginning to the end of the Iliad, shows not only that she is indifferent to the bloodshed over the trouble that she has caused, but also the fact that she uses people to obtain what is best for her. At the end of the novel, she is the only “Trojan woman” to be able to go back to a husband and not live a life enslaved. Although there is an argument that Helen regrets running away to Troy with Paris, it cannot be denied that Helen uses her resources to manipulate the events of the Trojan War.