Helen, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda Leda (lē`də), in Greek mythology, daughter of Thestios, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, king of Sparta.
..... Click the link for more information. and Zeus Zeus (z
..... Click the link for more information. , and sister of Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux (pŏl`əks)
..... Click the link for more information. and Clytemnestra Clytemnestra (klī'təmnĕs`trə), in Greek mythology, the daughter of Leda and Tyndareus.
..... Click the link for more information. . While still a young girl Helen was abducted to Attica by Theseus and Polydeuces, but Castor and Pollux rescued her. Later, when she was courted by the greatest heroes and chieftains of Greece, her foster father, Tyndareus, fearful of their jealousies, demanded that each suitor swear to defend the rights of the man Helen chose. She then married Menelaus Menelaus (mĕnəlā`əs), in Greek mythology, king of Sparta, son of Atreus .
..... Click the link for more information. , who, when Paris Paris or Alexander, in Greek mythology, son of Priam and Hecuba and brother of Hector. Because it was prophesied that he would cause the destruction of Troy, Paris was abandoned on Mt.
..... Click the link for more information. carried her off to Troy, reminded her former suitors of their oath. They then recruited an army and defeated the Trojans in the Trojan War Trojan War, in Greek mythology, war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. When Menelaus demanded her return, the Trojans refused.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Some legends say that Paris forcibly abducted Helen; others that she fell in love with him and went willingly. In one peculiar account, originating in Stesichorus and used by Euripides, Helen was rescued by Proteus in Egypt, who substituted in her stead a phantom that sailed to Troy with Paris. Proteus then cared for Helen until Menelaus finally claimed her. In the Iliad and Odyssey, Helen becomes Paris' wife but is in sympathy with the Greeks. She is easily reconciled with Menelaus after the war, and they return to a peaceful life at Sparta.

There are several other accounts of the story of Helen. Some say that after she and Menelaus returned to Greece, Orestes vengefully tried to kill her but that Zeus deified her. She bore Menelaus one daughter, Hermione Hermione (hərmī`ənē), in Greek mythology, the only daughter of Helen and Menelaus .
..... Click the link for more information. , and, by some accounts, a son, Pleisthenes. Helen had cults in Sparta and elsewhere and is considered by some scholars to be a "faded" goddess—perhaps an ancient fertility goddess—who became a mortal woman.

Helen

In Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in Greece, who was the indirect cause of the Trojan War. She was a daughter of Zeus, either by Leda or by Nemesis. Her brothers were the Dioscuri, and her sister was Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon. Helen was the wife of Menelaus. When Paris, son of Priam, was asked to decide which goddess was the most beautiful, he chose Aphrodite, who rewarded him with the most beautiful woman in the world. Seducing Helen with the goddess's help, Paris carried her off to Troy, and the Greeks sent a military force to pursue them. At the war's end, with Paris dead, Helen returned to Sparta with Menelaus.

Helen

carried off by Paris, thus precipitating Trojan war. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad, Hall, 147]

See : Abduction

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Helen

Helen