For over 2,500 years, Helen has shouldered the blame for the Trojan War. But is that really the case? Priam, the aged king of Troy, denied it. Why then, despite some defenders, has the belief in her culpability been so persistent and so vehement? This second installment reviews and prosecution’s main argument and examines the case for Helen’s innocence. The question of the Unity (which I describe in my previous essay) is again raised: is it influencing how we view Helen — even how the Iliad is translated? Did Helen and Paris actually elope? The topic of dynastic marriage in the late Bronze age is touched upon to cast light on this issue. Lastly, I briefly consider that if Helen is not at fault, who could be?

Helen’s controversial character and explores her nature as a goddess of ancient origin, the significance of her twin brothers, Kastōr and Poludeukēs (themselves ancient deities), what is behind her propensity for martial strife and being abducted, and her (perhaps unexpected) connection with Cassandra, the beautiful, cursed Trojan seer. Keep reading…

Helen of Troy is arguably our most enduring cultural icon. She is also one of the most polarizing and least understood, with an unsurpassed ability to create controversy. Her nature, however, remains elusive. This essay examines Helen’s history in literature within the context of Indo-European religion and Bronze Age history and by applying a multidisciplinary approach, suggests there may be parallel traditions about Helen which could account for the view she epitomizes the kalon kakon (beautiful evil). The essay’s purpose is less to present conclusions than to stimulate discussion of different ways to explore Helen’s ambiguous character. Keep reading…

In this fourth and final installment of my essay, I discuss the Cyclic poems (the six outside the Iliad and the Odyssey which have not survived) in context of the Iliad and whether our common belief in the Unity is fully justified. I suggest it is not, and propose a hypothesis as to how it came about through the merging of two separate traditions: one dating from the late Bronze Age and another that evolved under the tumultuous conditions of 8th century BC Greece. I then close with some tentative conclusions. Keep reading…

In this third installment of my essay, I consider the Iliad in context of the historical data discussed on Part 2, including the reliability oral transmission, survival of Greek culture and oral tradition through the “dark age” after the Bronze Age collapse, Anatolian contributions to the Trojan War story which would have been written, and possible correspondences between Greek myth and legend and the historical data. I also raise the intriguing possibility of the “missing man” of the Trojan War. Keep reading…

In this second installment of my essay, I give an overview of the historical data that may relate to a historical Trojan War, focusing on conflicts in both western Anatolia and Mycenean Greece, with particular emphasis on evidence from Hittite documents. I also touch on the relationship between Thebes and Mycenae during the late Bronze Age, and how it might relate to the conflicts in western Anatolia. Keep reading…

The Trojan War is one of our oldest and most debated traditions. The conflict’s historicity has become increasingly accepted, but its nature is poorly understood. This essay suggests one issue may be the approach to both literary and historical analyses, which generally assume a basic outline for the Trojan War that is “taken for granted.” Performing an all-source analysis of the literature in the context of history from the Late Bronze Age to the Archaic period, I suggest taking this outline for granted may be an impediment to understanding the Trojan War literature and the history of the war itself. Keep reading…