Research Paper on a myth based book or a movie (preferably a movie)
patelpranal
pranal_1.docxHELEN OF TROY
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HELEN OF TROY
Research paper on Helen of Troy
Pranal Patel
Dipanjan Maitra
ENG201
Greek mythology is the body of beliefs belonging to the ancient Greeks that concern the nature of the world, their heroes, gods and the significance and the origins of their ritual practices and cult (Payment 65). Greek mythology was part of the Greek religion. This paper discusses Helen of Troy in relation to the Greek mythology. According to the Greek mythology, Helen of Troy, a daughter of one of the Greek’s gods Zeus was the most beautiful woman in the world (George 207). She is most popular for the role she played in the break out of the Trojan War. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: Omit article. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: ***one of the Greek Gods
The argument in this paper is that Helen is responsible for the break out of the Trojan War. There are several sources which support this argument and have been used to strengthen the argument. In this paper, an overview of Helen’s life before and after the spell of Aphrodite is discussed.
The first record of Helen appears in the poems of Homer and dates back to the Mycenaean age. She was a daughter to Zeus and Ledaand wife to the Spartan king Menelaus according to most sources such as Llanas (56). Helen had many suitors who were interested in marrying because of her beauty and among them isMenelaus who emerged victorious. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: Cite your source of information.
The etymology of Helen’s name has been a problem to many scholars. One of them, George Curtius related her name to the moon, while another one Émile Boisacq suggests that the name is derived from the noun ‘torch’ (Meyer 23). There have been suggestions that the etymology of the name is linked with the root of Venus. No etymological source sufficiently supports the coincidence of the name Helen and the name Hellenic which was commonly used by Greeks at the time.
One of the earliest sources to report the account of birth of Helen reported that although Tyndareus was her putative father, she was actually Zeus. An eagle in the form of a swan chased the king of gods and went to seek refuge with Leda. The two become affectionate and mated and Leda produced an egg which hatched to Helen. The source goes ahead to state that the night Leda conceived Helen, she had intercourse with both Zeus and Tyndareus. This explains why some sources support that Helen was born to Tyndareus while others suggest that Zeus was the father.
An epic poem of Greek literature explains that according to Cypria, Helen was known to be the daughter of Zeus and Nemesis. Nemesis did not intend to mate with the Zeus according to Cypria and therefore she changed her shape to different animals in attempt to flee Zeus (Strauss 142). She finally became a goose. Zeus also changed himself into a goose and mated with her. Consequently, Nemesis produced an egg from which a baby came out, Helen. A similar story was told by Pseudo-Eratosthenes but the difference was instead of Zeus and Nemesischanging into geese, they changed into swans.
The remains of the egg could still be traced to the middle of the 2nd century AD. They were suspended from a temple tied up in ribbons. Theseus and Pirithous, were two Athenians who believed that they should marry divine wives since they were sons of gods. Theseus chose to marry Helen and took her away. He then left her under the care of his mother (George 241).
Helen had many suitors who wanted to marry her as mentioned above. Several kings and princes came forward and brought gifts or in some cases sent emissaries to act on their behalf. Tyndareus was the final decision maker concerning who would marry Helen. Her future husband did notbring gifts but instead he sent his brother to represent him.
Tyndareus was afraid to send any of the suitors away or choose a man to marry his daughter because he feared offending them or causing quarrel. Odysseus was among the suitors but did not bring anygifts because he had a very little chance to get to marry Helen (Meyer 67). Menelaus won the contest and married Helen and her father slaughtered a horse in celebration. BothMenelaus and Helen became rulers of Sparta. They ruled Sparta for about 10 years and together had three children; a daughter and two sons. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: Is Helen’s genealogy directly related to your research question?
Menelaus and Helen’s marriage was significant to the age of heroes because it marked the end of its beginning. A Trojan prince Paris came to claim Helen. Helen’s elopement with Paris marked the beginning of the Trojan War. The battle was fought for nine years and in the tenth year both Menelaus and Paris agreed to have Helen as the judge in a single combat of the warriors from both sides (Alexander 541). The Greeks won the war although Paris did not get hurt as he escaped with the help of Aphrodite in a cloud before he was attacked by the angered Menelaus (Settle 1735).
Some authors such as Herodotus, Stesichorus and Euripides claim that Helen never went to Troy but instead stayed in Egypt. When Menelaus realized that his wife Helen was missing, he urged all the other suitors to come and fulfill their oaths and this led to the break out of the war (Payment 2006).
From the above discussion, it is clear that Helen of Troy had something to do with the break out of the Trojan War. Because of her beauty, many men from all over the world were interested in marrying her. She finally married Menelaus but while still married to him, prince Paris of Trojan eloped with her and this marked the beginning of the war. According to some authors such as Llanas (213),Helen was abducted by Paris while others argued that she willingly fled away with him. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: That’s not really her fault, is it?
Following the events of Helen and the Trojan War, a film was produced based o the same in 1956. Robert Wise directed the movie which was distributed by Warner Bros. the film stars Stanley Baker, Rossana Podestà, Jacques Sernas, Stanley Baker, Nora Swinburne among others. The film retells the story of the war although with some changes. According to the film, Paris of Troy, played by Jacques Sernas sailed to Sparta to make a peace agreement between the two powerful city-states. He is however forced to sail back when his ship is swept overboard by storm in the shores of Sparta. The queen of Sparta, Helen (Rossana Podestà) finds Paris and they fall in love. Paris goes to the palace and finds Agamemnon played by Robert Douglas, Achilles played by Stanley Baker, Odysseus played by Torin Thatcher, King Menelaus, Helen’s husband played by Niall MacGinnis and several other king discussing whether to get into a war with Troy or not. At this point, Menelaus realizes that his wife Helen is I love with Paris from their behavior. He is really offended by this but chooses not to carry out an attack yet. Helen denies that Menelaus is her husband in front of Paris. Instead, he befriends Paris so it to find it to plot his death. He does this because he knows that if the two are close, it will be easy to monitor Paris’ movement and therefore manage to kill him. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: How is the film relevant here in proving Helen’s crime?
Helen learns about her husband’s plans and warns Paris to escape. Paris escapes to Troy together with Helen. The Greeks unite in pretence with the aim of helping Menelaus and starts the siege of Troy. Many people die I the process and property destroyed. The Trojans blame Helen and Paris for the break out of the war but according to Greeks they attacked Troy so as to gain its riches. They wanted to take control of the city-state and bring all its riches under their control. They were not interested in Helen or her relationship with Paris or Menelaus. The war was fought for 10 years after which the Greeks took the victory following the tactic of the Trojan horse which they used. The Trojan Horse a large wooden horse constructed by the Greeks to use in the war. The horse was large enough to fit a good number of soldiers. After it was constructed and Greek soldiers hid inside, the Greeks pretended to be sailing away. The Trojans pulled the horse to their side with expectations that they had won the war. However to their surprise, Greek soldiers emerged and opened the gates to let the rest of the Greek army in. this army had sailed back in the darkness to avoid being seen by the Trojans who would have attacked them. The Greeks then attacked the city of Troy and defeated them in the war. They took away their riches and went back to their country (Maguire 2009). Helen and Paris try to escape Menelaus corners them and gets hold of them. The two men get into a fight which ends in Menelaus killing Paris by stabbing him. Helen is saddened by the death but she hopes to meet Paris again after her death in Elysium. She woefully wanders through the destroyed city and finally collapses were the body of Paris lies. This is when she sees an apparition of Paris with who they embrace (Wise 2004). She begs him to take her with him to afterlife but he refuses and tells her that he has prepared a good place for her. He tells her that he cannot take her with him but instead she should wait until her time comes. Paris disappears and immediately Menelaus arrives holding a sword. Helen promises her husband Menelaus that she cannot love him but she would follow him. They both leave for Sparta in Greek ships and live as queen and king of Sparta. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: ***to the Greeks
This project seems to be different from the original story; Paris is show as a great leader and a hero, and most of Greek leaders being portrayed a opportunistic and treacherous pirates who were using the fight as an excuse to attack Troy and win its treasures. The original story did not include this part but instead argued the Trojan War was to be blamed on Helen. The idea was not to gain Trojan riches. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: The film could have had its own logic, as an adaptation of the myth. But does it alter the myth itself?
One interesting aspect of the war is that each side had a different reason for being in the war. The Trojans were fighting because of the issue concerning Helen and her relationships with Paris. The Greeks on the other hand were interested in defeating the Trojans and take their riches with them to expand their city-state.
However, much of the focus on this film is not o the war but on Helen. Half of the film concentrates on the life of Helen before Troy and some mythological facts that most version of the story have omitted. For example, most versions do not mention that at point Helen was abducted by Theseus and that the Greek kings used her marriage to Menelaus as their peace agreement (Maguire 2009).
One important aspect of the Trojan War is Helen of Troy according to whom most researchers is to blame for the war. This is the main argument in the original story. However, the film insinuates that the war was not caused by Helen alone but other factors such the quest to gain riches.
There are many published stories on Helen of Troy from different authors which have attracted many readers (Wise 2004). The film as well has received positive reviews from audience. Most of them refer it as enjoyable and full of suspense. Comment by Dipanjan Maitra: The presentation was fine with very few syntactical errors. It is clear that you have also gathered sources which directly relate to Helen of Troy. But the paper itself lacks structuring. While it raised a research question that pertained to the myth itself, it lost its way midway by discussing the film. What purpose does the film serve in proving whether Helen was responsible for the war? Long passages recounting Helen’s genealogy though important on their own, seem unrelated to the research question itself. Hopefully these will be addressed in the revised essay. GRADE: B
Works Cited
Alexander, C. 2009. The war that killed Achille : the true story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War . New York, N.Y. : Viking
George, M. 2006. Helen of Troy. New York: Viking
Llanas, G. 2009.Helen of Troy. Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Press
Maguire E (2009). Helen of Troy : from Homer to Hollywood . Chichester, U.K. ; Malden, MA : Wiley-Blackwell
Meyer, C. 2013. Beauty's daughter: the story of Hermione and Helen of Troy .Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Payment, S. 2006. Greek Mythology. New York: Rosen Pub. Group
Strauss, S. 2006. The Trojan War: a new history . New York: Simon & Schuster
Settle E (1735). The new history of the Trojan Wars and Troy's destruction . London : Printed for Sarah Bates, at the Sun and Bible in Giltspur-Street ; And James Hodges, at the Looking-Glass on London bridge
Wise R (2004). Helen of Troy. Burbank, CA : distributed by Warner Home Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrW3JDcB3vQ
