Synopses & Reviews
A major new book about the life and legend of the world’s ‘most beautiful woman’ – by the new star of TV history.
As soon as men began to write, they made Helen of Troy their subject. Hesiod, a poet born around 700BC and one of the first named authors in history, called her ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’ and the description endured. Even though we have no contemporary representations of her, this Bronze Age princess is still seen as a paradigm of absolute beauty and as a reminder of the terrible power beauty can wield.
Because of her double marriage to the Greek King Menelaus and the Hittite Prince Paris, Helen was held responsible for the enduring enmity between East and West. But who was she? She exists in many forms: the historical figure of the Bronze Age Spartan Queen who ruled over one of the most fertile areas of the Mycenaean world; the goddess subject of an eighth-century BC heroic cult which conflated Helen the person with a pre-Greek goddess; the mythological and literary home-wrecker figure of the Iliad; the icon and the first recorded sex-goddess, a symbol of the power of beauty and love.
Focusing on the ‘real’ Helen (the possibility of a flesh and blood Helen), acclaimed historian Bettany Hughes re-constructs the context of life in the Bronze Age Greece for this elusive pre-historic princess. Hughes brilliantly unpacks the facts and myths surrounding one of the most enigmatic and notorious figures of all time.
From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
A noted historian reexamines the issue of the real Helen of Troy by delving into mythology, poetry, and art, and by examining the sparse shards of historical evidence for the possible reality of Helen's existence, tracing the fluid image of Helen from ancient times to the present day. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.
Synopsis
For 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 Homers account of Helens life to frame her own investigation. Tracing the cultural impact that Helen has had on both the ancient world and Western civilization, Hughes explores Helens role and representations in literature and in art throughout the ages. This is a masterly work of historical inquiry about one of the worlds most famous women.
About the Author
Bettany Hughes is a cultural and social historian, writer, and television presenter. She received degrees in ancient and medieval history at Oxford University and has carried out research in the Balkans, Greece, and Asia Minor. She has presented numerous documentaries and historical series for the BBC, PBS, and the Discovery Channel, and also writes pieces on popular history for several newspapers and magazines.
Table of Contents
Illustrations Text Acknowledgements
Maps
Timeline
Dramatis Personæ
Family Trees
Foreword and Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
Cherchez la Femme
An Evil Destiny
Helen-Hunting
Goddess, Princess, Whore
PART ONE
HELENS BIRTH IN PRE-HISTORY
1 A Dangerous Landscape
2 A Rape, a Birth
3 The Lost Citadel
4 The Mycenaeans
5 The Pre-historic Princess
PART TWO
THE LAND OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
6 The Rape of ‘Fair Hellen
7 Sparte Kalligynaika
8 Tender-eyed Girls
PART THREE
THE WORLDS DESIRE
9 A Trophy for Heroes
10 The Kingmaker
11 A Royal Wedding
PART FOUR
KOUROTROPHOS
12 Hermione
13 A Welcome Burden
14 Helen, High Priestess
15 La Belle Hélène
PART FIVE
A LOVERS GAME
16 The Golden Apple
17 Bearing Gifts
18 Alexander Helenam Rapuit
19 The Female of the Species Is More Deadly Than the Male
PART SIX
EROS AND ERIS
20 Helen the Whore
21 The Pain of Aphrodite
22 The Seas Foaming Lanes
PART SEVEN
TROY BECKONS
23 East Is East and West Is West
24 The Fair Troad
25 The Topless Towers of Ilium
26 The Golden Houses of the East
27 A Fleet Sets Sail
PART EIGHT
TROY BESIEGED
28 Helen - Destroyer of Cities
29 Deaths Dark Cloud
30 A Beautiful Death - Kalos Thanatos
31 The Fall of Troy
PART NINE
IMMORTAL HELEN
32 Home to Sparta
33 The Death of a Queen
34 The Age of Heroes Ends
35 ‘Fragrant Treasuries
36 The Daughter of the Ocean
PART TEN
THE FACE THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SHIPS
37 Helen in Athens
38 Helen Lost and Helen Found
39 Helen, Homer and the Chances of Survival
40 Veyn Fables
41 Helen of Troy and the Bad Samaritan
42 ‘Perpulchra - More Than Beautiful
43 Dancing with the Devil
44 Helens Nemesis
APPENDICES
1 The Minotaurs Island
2 La Parisienne
3 Women of Stone and Clay and Bronze
4 Elemental Helen - She-Gods and She-Devils
5 Royal Purple - The Colour of Congealed Blood
Epilogue - Myth, History and Historia
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index