Helen of Troy: The Story Behind the Most Beautiful Woman in the WorldFor 3,000 years, the woman known as Helen of Troy has been both the ideal symbol of beauty and a reminder of the terrible power beauty can wield.In her search for the identity behind this mythic figure, acclaimed historian Bettany Hughes uses Homer’s account of Helen’s life to frame her own investigation. Tracing the cultural impact that Helen has had on both the ancient world and Western civilization, Hughes explores Helen’s role and representations in literature and in art throughout the ages. This is a masterly work of historical inquiry about one of the world’s most famous women. |
Contents
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | |
INTRODUCTION | |
PART ONE | |
1A DANGEROUS LANDSCAPE | |
2A RAPE A BIRTH | |
3THE LOST CITADEL | |
PART TEN | |
37HELEN IN ATHENS | |
38HELEN LOST AND HELEN FOUND | |
39HELEN HOMER AND THE CHANCES OF SURVIVAL | |
40VEYN FABLES | |
41HELEN OF TROY AND THE BAD SAMARITAN | |
42PERPULCHRA MORE THAN BEAUTIFUL | |
43DANCING WITH THE DEVIL | |
4THE MYCENAEANS | |
5THE PREHISTORIC PRINCESS | |
PART TWO | |
6THE RAPE OF FAIR HELLEN | |
7SPARTE KALLIGYNAIKA | |
8TENDEREYED GIRLS | |
PART THREE | |
9A TROPHY FOR HEROES | |
10THE KINGMAKER | |
11A ROYAL WEDDING | |
PART FOUR | |
12HERMIONE | |
13A WELCOME BURDEN | |
14HELEN HIGH PRIESTESS | |
15LA BELLE HÉLÈNE | |
PART FIVE | |
16THE GOLDEN APPLE | |
17BEARING GIFTS | |
18ALEXANDER HELENAM RAPUIT | |
19THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES IS MORE DEADLY THAN THE MALE | |
PART SIX | |
20HELEN THE WHORE | |
21THE PAIN OF APHRODITE | |
22THE SEAS FOAMING LANES | |
PART SEVEN | |
23EAST IS EAST AND WEST IS WEST | |
24THE FAIR TROAD | |
25THE TOPLESS TOWERS OF ILIUM | |
26THE GOLDEN HOUSES OF THE EAST | |
27A FLEET SETS SAIL | |
PART EIGHT | |
28HELEN DESTROYER OF CITIES | |
29DEATHS DARK CLOUD | |
30A BEAUTIFUL DEATH KALOS THANATOS | |
31THE FALL OF TROY | |
PART NINE | |
32HOME TO SPARTA | |
33THE DEATH OF A QUEEN | |
34THE AGE OF HEROES ENDS | |
35FRAGRANT TREASURIES | |
36THE DAUGHTER OF THE OCEAN | |
44HELENS NEMESIS | |
APPENDICES | |
APPENDIX ONETHE MINOTAURS ISLAND | |
APPENDIX TWOLA PARISIENNE | |
APPENDIX THREEWOMEN OF STONE AND CLAY AND BRONZE | |
APPENDIX FOURELEMENTAL HELEN SHEGODS AND SHEDEVILS | |
APPENDIX FIVEROYAL PURPLE THE COLOUR OF CONGEALED BLOOD | |
EPILOGUEMYTH HISTORY AND HISTORIA | |
ABBREVIATIONS | |
NOTES | |
CHAPTER TWENTYONEThe Pain of Aphrodite | |
CHAPTER TWENTYTWOThe Seas Foaming Lanes | |
CHAPTER TWENTYTHREEEast Is East and West Is West | |
CHAPTER TWENTYFOURThe Fair Troad | |
CHAPTER TWENTYFIVEThe Topless Towers of Ilium | |
CHAPTER TWENTYSIXThe Golden Houses of the East | |
CHAPTER TWENTYSEVENA Fleet Sets Sail | |
CHAPTER TWENTYEIGHTHelen Destroyer of Cities | |
CHAPTER TWENTYNINEDeaths Dark Cloud | |
CHAPTER THIRTYONEThe Fall of Troy | |
CHAPTER THIRTYTWOHome to Sparta | |
CHAPTER THIRTYTHREEThe Death of a Queen | |
CHAPTER THIRTYFOURTHE AGE OF HEROES ENDS | |
CHAPTER THIRTYFIVEFragrant Treasuries | |
CHAPTER THIRTYSIXThe Daughter of the Ocean | |
CHAPTER THIRTYSEVENHelen in Athens | |
CHAPTER THIRTYEIGHTHelen Lost and Helen Found | |
CHAPTER FORTYVeyn Fables | |
CHAPTER FORTYONEHelen of Troy and the Bad Samaritan | |
More Than Beautiful | |
CHAPTER FORTYTHREEDancing with the Devil | |
CHAPTER FORTYFOURHelens Nemesis | |
APPENDIX ONEThe Minotaurs Island | |
APPENDIX TWOLa Parisienne | |
APPENDIX THREEWomen of Stone and Clay and Bronze | |
APPENDIX FOURElemental Helen SheGods and SheDevils | |
APPENDIX FIVERoyal Purple The Colour of Congealed Blood | |
EPILOGUE MYTH HISTORY AND HISTORIA | |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | |
OTHER WORKS | |
Other editions - View all
Helen of Troy: The Story Behind the Most Beautiful Woman in the World Bettany Hughes No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
13th century BC Achilles Aegean Agamemnon Anatolian ancient antiquity Aphrodite archaeologists aristocrats Athenian Athens Bronze Age Helen Cambridge chariots citadel civilisation Clytemnestra Crete cult culture death decorated described divine earth Eastern Mediterranean Egypt Egyptian epic Euripides excavated Faustus female figurines fragments frescoes goddess gods gold Greece Greek mainland Hattusa Helen and Paris Helen of Troy Helen’s story Hermione Herodotus heroes Hesiod Hisarlik Hittite Homer honour Iliad imagine Iphigeneia island king Knossos Late Bronze Age Linear B tablets lived Loeb Classical Library London Magus Marlowe’s medieval Menelaus Minoan Mycenae Mycenaean National Archaeological Museum Odyssey Oxford painted palace papyrus Pausanias Peloponnese poem poet pre-historic Pylos rape religious ritual Roman sanctuary Schliemann sexual Spartan Spartan girls Spartan queen stone tell texts theatre Thera Theseus thousand tomb Trans Trojan War Trojan Women Tyndareus University Press vase walls warrior woman worshipped young Zeus