Helen, known as Helen of Troy and also as Helen of Sparta, is a figure in Greek mythology renowned as the most beautiful woman in the world. Ancient sources name Zeus as her father, with either Leda or Nemesis as her mother, and count Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux among her siblings. She married King Menelaus of Sparta and bore him a daughter, Hermione, before her elopement or abduction by Paris of Troy set off the Trojan War. Homer, Hesiod, Euripides, Virgil and Ovid all recorded aspects of her story, including her earlier abduction by Theseus and the Oath of Tyndareus sworn by her suitors to defend whichever of them she married. Ancient accounts disagree sharply about her own role, ranging from an unwilling captive to a willing and even treacherous participant, and some traditions hold that she spent the war years safely in Egypt while a phantom took her place at Troy. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayHistorically attested; no continuous cult 2 HistoricityLegendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record 2 Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 Function
Domain / Function Sources
1. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
2. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edition
Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2012Helen of Troy, HomerView the Source Wikipedia, "Helen of Troy"
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