The Iliad Written by Homer

The Iliad written by Homer, talks about the 'greatest war story ever told': the infamous 'Trojan War.' This legendary epic began with the elopement of Helen, the fairest woman in the land, and Troy's cursed Prince Paris. Menelaus, her husband, mad with jealousy and broken pride, allied with his brother, Agamemnon, to wage a war against Troy. The envoys returned to Greece, and preparations for war began. The former suitors of Helen were reminded of the oath they had sworn.

Helen was not the real reason of the Trojan War but rather the Judgment of Paris. Because of Helen's decision to be with Paris, two great empires were given a reason to go to war that lasted for a decade. Over those years, the gods of Mt. Olympus were divided, helping the camp that they supported. Thus, the Greeks and Trojans both had the enjoyment of feeling how it was to be favored by the gods. They played with the fate of the different characters in the story. Hence, they showed their roles in the lives of these mortals.

The Helen in the Iliad is sensual and splendid. Here the uncertainty of her lot, and the surrounding slaughter, draw from her bitter complaints and unavailing wishes that she had never been born or had perished in the waves before she came to Troy.

One good question about Helen's character would be if she was that tramp who left her family and waged a war that took many lives. She is actually one of the first feminists who challenged the status quo. Unlike the women of her time, she was not submissive and she stood for her beliefs. We must remember that the writer of The Iliad was not a woman and may have written this poem from a man's point of view. Thus, we should be open to the idea that Helen was not just a tramp but more importantly a fighter.

It may be important to realize that Helen really had little say-so in this arrangement. Menelaus was a political choice on her father's part. He had wealth and power, mainly through his brother Agamemnon, but for Helen he did not offer the good looks and glamour of some of her other suitors. It was her lot to grace the palace and the kingdom Menelaus soon inherited.

She is perfectly reconciled to the result of the conflict, whatever it may be. She thinks tenderly of her former husband-she is ready to return to him if she wins her, and to abandon her Trojan lover. She is found equally ready to fall into the arms of Paris when he comes back from the field. When she reproaches him for his defeat, her anger is embittered by the reflection of the disgrace it occasions to herself. As she has deserted her husband, she wishes that the man for whom the gods had destined her had been more worthy of respect and more sensible of honourable impulses. So, she mourns over the slain body of Hector, her sorrow flows mainly from her conviction, that by his death, she has lost a powerful friend, at a moment when she most wants a protector. Her conduct to Paris is that of a finished coquette. She chides and upbraids