Slaves dressing Helen in the center, while Paris delighted by her beauty waits on the right side.

Helen and Menelaus, Louvre G424Helen's relationship with Paris varies depending on the source of the story. In some, she loved him dearly (perhaps caused by Aphrodite, who had promised her to Paris). In others, she was a cruel, selfish woman who brought disaster to everyone around her, and she hated him. One version, used by Euripides in his play Helen claims Hermes fashioned a likeness of her out of clouds at Zeus's request, and Helen never even went to Troy, having spent the entire war in Egypt.

Helen abducted by Paris

Gall

Paris and Helen , David

Helen and Paris, MAR Naples, Pompeii

Helen of Troy, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1863, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany

Helen, Anthony Frederick Sandys

Helen of Troy by Evelyn de Morgan

Music

Jacques Offenbach, La Belle Helene

Rossana Podesta as Helen of Troy (1956)

Bettany Hughes , Helen of Troy : goddess, princess, whore


Mythology Images

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Dictionary of Greek Mythology