When it comes to marriage, even the most beautiful and desirable women and the most powerful and sage men can turn a blind eye to the conspiracies of people. As obvious as it may seem, marriages are not always founded on love and affection; sometimes, it takes excellent alliances to bring two people together.
The most beautiful woman in Greece
Helen was the most beautiful woman of the age of heroes in Greek mythology. She was the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. Helen of Troy, also known as Helen of Sparta, is a figure from Greek mythology whose elopement or abduction by the Trojan prince Paris sparked the Trojan War. Helen was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and was regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world. Menelaus convinced his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, to form a large army and besiege the powerful city of Troy in order to recapture Helen.
Helen returned home with Menelaus after the Greek victory in the war, but she became a symbol of moral failure and the dangers of placing lust over reason in the ancient world. Helen had a divine form and was the focus of cults at numerous Greek sites, including Rhodes, Sparta, and Therapy.
Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, the queen of Sparta, and the wife of Tyndareus in Greek mythology. Zeus disguised himself as a swan to seduce Leda, and Helen was the result of their passionate relationship. In another version of the myth, Helen's mother is the goddess Nemesis, the personification of vengeance. Helen is born from an egg in both versions, regardless of who her mother is. Helen's siblings included the hero twins Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra, the future wife of King Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. One day, Tyndareus offered sacrifices to all the gods but forgot Aphrodite. Angered by the slight, the goddess vowed that all of the king's daughters would become notorious for adultery.
Capture by Theseus
Theseus was considered an early king of Athens in Greek mythology. His most celebrated adventure was the slaying of King Minos's fearsome Minotaur. During the Classical period, Theseus came to symbolize the ideal Athenian: a man of action who was committed to serving his city to the best of his ability and a staunch defender of democracy. Theseus had not yet given up on finding a suitable wife, despite the tragic endings of his relationships with Ariadne, Antiope, and Phaedra. This time, he aimed somewhat higher. Instead of an Amazon queen or a granddaughter of Zeus, Theseus pursued a daughter of Zeus: Helen, a princess of Sparta who would become famous for sparking the Trojan War and was an exceptional beauty.
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Therefore, Theseus and Pirithous, king of Larissa, went to Sparta and kidnapped Helen when she was 10 or 11 years old. Then, they brought her to Aphidnae, a small city outside of Athens. There, Helen cared for Aethra, Theseus' mother. Then it was Pirithous' turn to choose a wife, and he chose Persephone, the goddess of the underworld. Therefore, the two friends descended to Hades to retrieve her. But Hades, the supreme god of the underworld, realized that his guests intended to capture Persephone, so he imprisoned Theseus and let his dog Cerberus tear Pirithous to pieces. By the time Theseus was imprisoned in the Underworld, Helen's brothers Castor and Pollux, also known as the Dioscuri, had invaded Aphidnae, rescued Helen and returned her to Sparta.
Menelaus
Menelaus was the king of Sparta and the husband of Helen, whose abduction by the Trojan prince Paris precipitated the legendary Trojan War. Menelaus was the son of Atreus, king of Mycenae and younger brother of Agamemnon, according to Greek mythology. In some traditions, the two brothers were the grandchildren of Atreus, but he raised them after his son and their father Pleisthenes died prematurely. Their mother was Aerope, the daughter of the king of Crete, Catreus. The family union between Greece and Crete may have reflected a desire on the part of Bronze Age Mycenaean Greeks to claim some sort of cultural heritage from the earlier Minoan civilization on that island.
Helena's Return
Sparta was celebrating Helen's return after her brothers had rescued her. Helen was looking for a suitor at this time because she was constantly at risk of kidnapping. Helen was the most desired and sought-after princess in Greece due to her ethereal beauty. After word spread that Helen had reached marriageable age, all of her suitors rushed to Sparta. The king was unable to choose between all of the suitors.
Odysseus, king of the island of Ithaca, was among the nobles present at the court. It was rumored that he was the son of Sisyphus due to his intelligence and cunning. Odysseus was uninterested in Helen because he believed that such a beautiful woman would only bring him trouble and misery. Instead, he had Penelope, Helen's sister, in his sights. She was less attractive than Helen, but much smarter and more intelligent. Odysseus approached the king, made a proposal, and asked him to use his influence over his brother Icarus to convince him to marry Penelope. This would relieve the king of the burden of selecting a suitor for Helen.
The Last Suitor
After hearing the Proposal, the king agreed and declared that Helen would choose her own husband and that he would not interfere with the will of the gods. Helen was permitted to choose her own spouse. As she evaluated the men present, she noticed Prince Menelaus. Her knees began to shake because he was so charming and handsome. Helen chose Menelaus in accordance with the king's and Odysseus's plan, and Menelaus reciprocated by recognizing Helen's immaturity. Helen had many famous suitors, but she ultimately married Agamemnon's brother Menelaus, king of Sparta. As part of the marriage agreement, Tyndareus sacrificed a horse and made all the Greek leaders swear to recognize Helen as Menelaus' rightful wife and to protect his daughter from harm. When the time came for battle, this oath would have grave consequences. Before Menelaus married Helen, Helen's earthly father Tyndareus extracted an oath from the Achaean leaders that they would all bring their troops to retrieve Helen for her rightful husband should she be kidnapped again. When Paris took Helen to Troy, Agamemnon gathered these Achaean leaders and compelled them to keep their word. This marked the beginning of the Trojan War.
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