The most beautiful woman in ancient Greece was reputed to be Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, and wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Despite warnings from Cassandra and other seers ofTroy—and the objections of his wife, Oenone—Paris set sail for Sparta to claim the prize Aphrodite had promised him. Menelaus and Helen welcomed Paris as a guest in their home and entertained him for nine days. During Paris’s stay Menelaus was called to Crete to bury his grandfather, leaving his wife with their guest. This was the opportunity Paris had been waiting for. Before Menelaus returned home, Paris abducted Helen from Sparta.
The couple became lovers on the island of Kranai, off the coast of Greece, then returned to Troy. One version of the myth claims that their journey lasted many weeks while they visited other cities; another reports that they reached Troy in three days. Upon their arrival, the city celebrated their marriage. The Trojans welcomed the prince and his new wife into the city, even though some members of Paris’s family had reservations. Cassandra maintained that the marriage was fated to bring ruin to the city ofTroy. However, because of Apollo’s curse, her protestations were ignored.
Accounts of Helen’s departure from Sparta differ: some say she was abducted against her will, others say that she was spellbound by Paris and followed him. Whether Helen went willingly or not, Paris was guilty of violating one of the most fundamental laws of Greek society: the law of xenia (hospitality). Ancient Greeks believed that the bond between host and guest was sacred and was governed by Zeus himself. Anyone who failed to abide by xenia was sure to suffer terrible consequences.
Above: In this 18th-century painting, Italian artist Giovanni Scaiaro depicts Paris forcefully loading Helen, wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta, onto a boat destined for Troy. In some versions of the myth Helen is abducted by Paris; in others she accompanies Paris willingly.
Meanwhile Menelaus returned to Sparta and flew into a rage at discovering what had happened to his wife. He and his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, determined to bring Helen back to Sparta and gathered an army of Greek soldiers for this purpose. Some of these soldiers had been Helen’s suitors before she married Menelaus and were bound by an oath they had taken swearing to attack any person who endangered Menelaus’s marriage to Helen.
The bond had been engineered by the hero Odysseus many years earlier.
Following Helen’s departure from Sparta, the Greek fleet set sail from Aulis to Troy. The army had been delayed at Aulis until King Agamemnon appeased the anger of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. She demanded that he sacrifice his firstborn daughter, Iphigeneia, before she would send a wind to carry the fleet to Troy. Iphigeneia’s death instilled in Agamemnon a desire to bring a special vengeance upon the Trojans and their prince.
World History
