Helen of Troy

Who does not know the tale of Helen, the woman whose face launched a thousand ships and the great love she shared with Paris of Troy? Or how bravely Achilles fought for the Greeks? Or how the Greeks gave the Trojans the spectacular horse, forever known as The Trojan Horse and thus brought about the end of the war?

Helen of Sparta married Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, both of Mycenae. The marriage was not a love match. Rather, for Helen who would pass the crown of Sparta unto her husband, it was a marriage to a kind and gentle man. One who she could feel comfort with. One who would do anything for her, anything but let her go. Theirs is a marriage of comfort, however not one blessed by the passion of Aphrodite.

When Paris of Troy visits Sparta, Helen cannot stay away from him. So drawn to Paris Helen leaves all she has, including her beloved daughter, to be with Paris. Together they flee for Troy. Envoys are sent from Greece—“give us back our Queen.” All are unheeded which leads to the Trojan War. For ten long years the Greeks attack, lay siege and one by one kill off the Trojan royal family. Hector of Troy kills Patrocles, beloved friend of Achilles. In turn, Achilles kills Hector. Paris then kills Achilles. At long last the Greeks send in their deadly wooden horse and Troy is decimated. It exists no more.

Helen is forced to return to Sparta with Menelaus who has vowed he will kill her. While Odysseys begins his odyssey and Agamemnon returns to Mycenae to be killed by his wife for the murder of their child, a storm drives Menelaus and Helen to Egypt where they find a companionable peace over their seven years there. At long last they return to Sparta to live out their days in peace before they recede, but never forgotten, into history.

The story of Paris and Helen has been told over and over through the years. Generally the tale involves Helen running off with her true love Paris. The couple are hunted down, the Trojan War ensues and finally the Greeks send in their famed Trojan Horse. It is a wonderful love story, filled with drama, bravery, adventure and one of the world’s greatest romances. Margaret George retells the story in a breathtakingly richly told tale. Told through Helen’s eyes, the story begins at her beginning—as a child. We feel through Helen’s words what it was like to grow up never seeing her face because to look upon it would bring the prophecy of her future into motion. Ms George brings Helen’s family to life as Helen tells of her adventures with them.

While movies may entertain and other books on Helen of Troy give a glimpse into the woman, Ms. George takes readers to a deeper level. Combining myth, history and talent to weave a story that will live the reader’s mind long after the final page is read, Ms. George shows another side of the tale. Ms. George’s Paris and Achilles are teenagers—as they would have been in the era of Helen. They are mature for their time, yet they are still teenage boys with all the emotion and needs of their age.

The realities of war: death, destruction, families torn apart, warriors far from home are all woven through the threads of Helen’s tale. The mysteries of who is committing black mail, who is cooking the books and the machinations of mergers flesh out a story that doesn’t end in the reader’s mind just because the last page has been read.

Most stories about Helen and Paris end with the wooden horse being brought into Troy. Ms. George invites her readers to accompany Helen and Menelaus back to Sparta and visit with them as they grow old and mend their family. The ending is heart wrenchingly beautiful. It is the one this reviewer wished for and did not believe would happen when Menelaus forces Helen back to Sparta. I sat for several minutes, a smile on my face, with a tear in my eye as I read those last lines.

HELEN OF TROY is the first of Ms. George’s books this reviewer has read. I intend to read them all.

May 2008