Priam, the king of Troy, and his son Hector, both treat Helen respectfully during the conflict, with Hector, in particular, blaming Paris as the bringer of war.
While Helen repeatedly acknowledges her role in igniting the conflict, other characters, such as Priam, refuse to blame her. The Greek gods – who are accused of staging this great conflict – and the Trojan prince Paris are also held responsible.
The prince carried off his bride, to the great insult of the Greeks, who would not stand for a Trojan prince stealing the most beautiful woman in the world from a Greek king. So Menelaus and his brother, king Agamemnon of Argos, and all other Greek kings and lords who had ever pursued Helen, declared war on Troy.
Ironically, even though Hector had mad skills in battle, he thought the war was a really dumb idea. He blamed his brother, Paris, for stupidly starting the whole thing by stealing Helen from Menelaus, king of Sparta.
Homer described Priam at the time of the Trojan War as an old man, powerless but kindly, not even blaming Helen, the wife of Paris, for all his personal losses resulting from the war.
She is one of the eponymous women the tragedy The Trojan Women produced in 415 BC by the Greek playwright Euripides. Dio Chrysostom absolved Helen of guilt for the Trojan War by making Paris her first, original husband and claiming that the Greeks started the war out of jealousy.
The Trojan War. One of the most mysterious and fascinating battles in all history and mythology, whether or not it was real is heavily debated, but what can be agreed on is that the reason for the conflict was Helen of Troy.
... for she [Helen] had a deform'd soul, playing the strumpet, not only in her younger years with Theseus ... but also being married to Menelaus, forsook him, and became a whore to Paris; and not content with him, committed incest with Gorythus, the son of Paris and Oenone; afterward betrayed the city of Troy to the ...
Helen has several lines of dialogue in The Iliad. However, she primarily speaks about her regret in coming to Troy with Paris, and that she wishes that she had instead chosen death. She also wishes death upon Paris following his duel with Menelaus, her former husband.
He took pity on her and decided to take her back as his wife. Menelaus resolved to kill Helen, but her irresistible beauty prompted him to drop his sword and take her back to his ship "to punish her at Sparta", as he claimed.
Helen was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta (a fact Aphrodite neglected to mention), so Paris had to raid Menelaus's house to steal Helen from him—according to some accounts, she fell in love with Paris and left willingly.
One day, Helen was at her palace in Sparta with her husband Menelaus. Paris appeared. As was customary by the laws of hospitality in ancient Greece, they gave him lodging and entertained him with banquets and gifts. Paris and Helen fell madly in love from the moment they met.
Menelaus had meant to kill Helen because she had deserted him. When he saw her again, however, he was overcome by her beauty and forgave her. After the Greek victory Menelaus and Helen returned to Sparta, where they lived happily until their deaths.
Helen was widely considered the most beautiful of all mortal women. In his Works and Days, Hesiod describes her as "fair-haired Helen" (165). Homer repeatedly describes her in his works as "Helen of the lovely hair" (Odyssey,15:58), "white-armed Helen" (Iliad, 3:119) and "Helen, queen among women" (Iliad, 3:422).
Laurie Macguire, writing in "Helen of Troy From Homer to Hollywood," lists the following 11 men as husbands of Helen in ancient literature, proceeding from the canonical list in chronological order, to the 5 exceptional ones: Theseus. Menelaus. Paris.
In Greek mythology, Hector (/ˈhɛktər/; Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, pronounced [héktɔːr]) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince, hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing countless Greek warriors.
In the Iliad, How Did Hector Treat Helen Before His Death? Hector treated Helen kindly while everyone around her was being treated harshly. Helen was wrongly seen as the cause of Troy's troubles with Greece hence his harsh treatment. However, it was a wrong accusation because she was kidnapped against her will.
Achilles chased Hector back to Troy, slaughtering Trojans all the way. When they got to the city walls, Hector tried to reason with his pursuer, but Achilles was not interested. He stabbed Hector in the throat, killing him.
In both The Trojan Women and Orestes Helen is condemned for her role in the Trojan War. The criticism of her is particularly harsh in The Trojan Women where, in the aftermath of the war, Helen is condemned to death by her former husband Menelaus.
According to this poem, Greece hates Helen for possessing such beauty that would cause Paris to enter her life and take her to Troy thus starting a long bloody war that would ultimately cost many lives of Greek men.
In Homer's adaptation of the legend, The Iliad, it is alluded to that Helen willingly left her husband Menelaus to be with Paris, the king of Troy. Although there are several accounts where Helen is said to have been abducted, or stolen away, the movie sticks with the rendition of her leaving on her own accord.
She was kidnapped by Theseus, who raped her and then departed on a mission to rescue the goddess Persephone from Hades. In his absence, Helen was rescued and taken home to Sparta.
Helen was cursed for her beauty, 'beauty like that of a goddess' as Homer puts it – (meaning a ferocious vitality that changed men's lives). Helen's physical perfection spawned suffering and rage and ugly death.
Helen was subsequently rescued by her brothers, Castor and Pollux, who returned her to Sparta. In most accounts of this event, Helen was quite young; Hellanicus of Lesbos said she was seven years old and Diodorus makes her ten years old.
After the Trojan defeat, the Greeks heroes slowly made their way home. Odysseus took 10 years to make the arduous and often-interrupted journey home to Ithaca recounted in the “Odyssey.” Helen, whose two successive Trojan husbands were killed during the war, returned to Sparta to reign with Menelaus.