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There are a couple of different stories about Helen's parents. Her father is Zeus. In one story, he couple with Nemesis in the form of swans. The egg which resulted was entrusted to Leda, who hatched it. In another story, Zeus seduced Leda in the form of a swan and produced the egg from which Helen hatched. In either case, it is apparant that she is of divine birth. Her siblings were Clytemnestra (Agamemnon's wife) and the Dioscouri (Gemini). Helen was proclaimed to be the most beautiful of all mortal women and was abducted at a young age by Theseus and Peirithous, who drew straws to see who would marry her when she reached the proper age. Theseus won the draw and agreed that he would help Peirithous find an equal mate. He chose Persephone. While they were away, Helen was rescued by her brothers and taken back home. As she got older a great contest was held for her hand in marriage. Odysseus advised her step-father, Tyndareus, to make the suitors promise to defend his choice, and so he chose Menelaus. He was the brother of Helen's sister's husband, Agamemnon. They were very happy together until Paris came into Helen's life. Aphrodite made Helen fall in love with Paris, as she promised him for choosing her the most beautiful of the goddesses. Paris had to choose between Aphrodite, Hera and Athene. This caused Helen to run away to Troy with Paris...with part of her husband's riches. Because the Trojans would not return the loot or his wife, Menelaus assembled a great army and headed to Troy to take back what belonged to him. After Paris was killed during the ten year seige, his brothers started arguing over who would get their brother's wife. Helen was forced to marry Deiphobus. She even tried to escape, but was brought back. When the wooden horse was brought into the city, Helen knew what was up and mocked the wives of the men inside the horse causing a few of them to almost break their silence. Once the fight inside the city walls began, Menelaus headed straight to Helen's quarters intending to kill her. He was side-tracked by a fight with Helen's new husband, Deiphobus, whom she stabbed. This factor and the sight of Helen's bare breasts made Menelaus rethink his plan, and he took Helen safely to the ship. They lived out the rest of their days happily. To protect Helen, Zeus had Apollo wrap her in a cloud and bring her to Olympus to reunite with her brothers. |
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