Helen

In Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus (transformed as a swan). She was abducted as a young girl by Theseus, but rescued by her brothers Castor and Pollux (Greek Polydeuces). Helen married Menelaus, king of Sparta, and bore him Hermione, but during his absence was seduced by Paris, prince of Troy; their flight precipitated the Trojan wars.

Reconciliation When Paris died, Helen was forced to marry his brother Deiphobus, but at the fall of Troy she was pardoned by Menelaus and returned to Sparta.

In Helen, a dramatized version of her story by Euripedes, Paris and Helen were driven ashore on the coast of Egypt during their journey to Troy. King Proteus detained the real Helen and substituted a phantom; Helen herself was recovered by Menelaus on his way home after the fall of Troy.

Death Accounts vary concerning Helen's fate. In Homer's Odyssey, Menelaus and Helen were sent to Elysium, a paradise for those who found favour with the gods. In another variation both were buried at Therapnae.

One legend describes how, after the death of Menelaus, Helen was driven out by her stepsons. She went to Rhodes and was hanged from a tree by her former friend Polyxo, in revenge for the death of her husband Tlepolemus at Troy.

Another tradition suggests that after her death she was married to the dead hero Achilles on the island of Leuce and bore him a son, Euphorion.

Origin Helen may have derived from a pre-Hellenic fertility goddess, probably of Laconia in southern Greece.