Helen of Troy

Marble Bust of Helen of Troy

Helen of Troy was the demigod daughter of Zeus. She was taken by Paris as his wife (since she was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world), which caused the Trojan War.

She originally was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and had a daughter with him named Hermione. At the end of the Trojan War, she was taken back to Sparta to live with her husband and daughter again. Menelaus was enraged by Helen's betrayal, but when Helen took off her cloak to reveal her body, Menelaus calmed down.

In some sources, she was abducted by Theseus, but was then saved by Castor and Pollux. The twin brothers then forced Theseus' mother to be Helen's slave.

Children

Hermione
Aethiolas
Maraphius
Pleisthenes

Gallery

Helen of Troy by Evelyn De Morgan (1898, London);

'Helen of Troy' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. (1863)

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