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Helen’s Prologue 7: The Childhood of Helen

Chapter 7: The Childhood of Helen

Euripides Andromache 595-599 (c. 428-425 BC): “[Peleus speaks to Menelaus abou Helen]: No Spartan girl could ever live clean even if she wanted. They’re always out on the street in scanty outfits, making a great display of naked limbs. In those they race and wrestle with the boys too.” {From The Complete Greek Tragedies Volume III: Euripides, translated by John Frederick Nims, published by University of Chicago Press 1992, p. 586.}

Ovid Heroides 16.149-152 (c. 25-16 BC): ¨[Paris writes to Helen]: as your family so often does – you competed in the games of the palaestra [wrestling], a naked maiden with naked men.” {From Ovid Heroides, translated by Harold Isbell, published by Penguin Classics 2004, p. 153.}

Propertius The Elegies 3.14 (1st Century BC-1st Century AD): ¨The many rules of your athletics, O Sparta, I admire, but even more the many merits of your training of virgins, for without disrepute a naked girl may engage in physical exercise in the presence of wrestling men, when the ball makes invisible its lightning flight from hand to hand, and the hooked stick rings against the rolling hoop, and a dust-soiled woman stands at the end of the course and suffers hurt in the fight with no holds barred now she binds the glove to her arms that rejoice in its thongs, now whirls in a circle the flying weight of the discus, and now, hoarfrost sprinkling her hair, she follows her father’s hounds over the long ridges of Taygetus: her horses’ hooves thud round the ring, she girds the sword to her snowy hips, and shields her virgin head with hollowed bronze, like the warlike throng of Amazons with breasts exposed that bathe in the waters of the Thermodon; and like Castor and Pollux on the banks of the Eurotas, Pollux to be a champion at boxing, Castor in horsemanship, with whom Helen, her bosom bare, is said to have borne arms and not to have blushed with shame in front of her divine brothers.” {From Propertius Elegies, translated by G.P. Goold, published by Harvard University Press 1990, pp. 271, 273.}

Appearance of Helen

Apollodorus Library 3.126 (c. 60/61 BC-2nd Century AD): “After [her birth] Helen grew to be strikingly beautiful.” {From Apollodorus’ Library and Hyginus’ Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, published by Hackett Publishing 2007, p. 60.}

Homer Iliad and Odyssey terms (c. 750-725 BC): The term leukolenos means white-armed which indicates the pale complexion of women in comparison to men who are outside all day.13 Eukomos means lovely or beautiful-haired; tanypeplos means flowing or long-robed and indicates that she dressed as a noble or high-born lady.12

Sappho and Ibycus terms (c. 6th Century BC): Xanthe in the Ancient Greek texts [not 21st Century Greek] has been consistently seen to mean anywhere from completely yellow hair to hair with hints of yellow in it. This includes blonde, reddish-golden, amber, reddish-brown, flaxen, auburn, or light brown hair with sunkissed highlights.1234

Hesiod Catalogue of Women terms (c. 540-520 BC): Tanisphyros means slender-ankled.2 Maria Michella Sassi adds that it can mean dark blue merging into black when describing the sea.4 The root word kuaneos has been used to describe dark stones and the eyes of water divinities; perhaps kuanopis refers to the dark, shiny, watery pools of eyes rather than the hue.1 The term kuaneos has been also used to describe Odysseus’ beard, which cannot be dark blue as he is a mortal.3

Note: Ancient writers were intentionally vague about Helen’s appearance because “she is a blank symbol for desire upon which all audiences (ancient and modern, male and female) project their own (often ambiguous) notions of beauty” (para. 6).1

Dares Phrygius History of The Fall of Troy 12: “Helen resembled Castor and Pollux. She was beautiful, ingenuous, and charming. Her legs were the best; her mouth the cutest. There was a beauty-mark between her eyebrows.” {From The Trojan War: The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian, translated by R.M. Frazer, published by Indiana University Press 1966. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html}.

Artistic Depictions of Beautiful Ancient Women

Parian Peplos Kore Marble Statue: Full-Body (c. 530 BC): [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/ACMA_679_Kore_1.JPG].

Parian Peplos Kore Marble Statue: Profile (c. 530 BC): [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/ACMA_679_Kore_2.JPG].

Akrotiri Saffron Gatherers Fresco (c. 1600-1500 BC): [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Cueilleuse_de_safran%2C_fresque%2C_Akrotiri%2C_Gr%C3%A8ce.jpg].

Akrotiri The Adorants Fresco (c. 16th Century BC): [Image found at https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/352406739563011765/].

Akrotiri Saffron Goddess Fresco (c. 1600 BC): [Image found at https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/352406739572452204/]

Bibliography

1 What Does Helen Look Like? by twitter correspondent @sentantiq, Bloggers fluent in Ancient Greek and Latin, published by https://sententiaeantiquae.com/, 2018. Retrieved from https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2018/05/11/what-does-helen-look-like/

2 Personal Correspondence with Oliver D. Smith, BA Classical Civilization at University of Roehampton, 2018.

3 Black Achilles by Tim Whitmarsh, A G Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge, published by https://aeon.co/ [essay] 2018. Retrieved from https://aeon.co/essays/when-homer-envisioned-achilles-did-he-see-a-black-man

4 The sea was never blue by Maria Michela Sassi, Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Pisa University, published by https://aeon.co/ [essay] 2017. Retrieved from https://aeon.co/essays/can-we-hope-to-understand-how-the-greeks-saw-their-world

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Helen’s Prologue 6: The Prophecy about Helen

Chapter 6: The Prophecy about Helen

Apollodoros of Erythrai BNJ 422F1 as cited in Marcus Terentius Varro Divine Antiquities (c. 3rd Century BC): “The fifth (Sibyl) was from Erythrai, and Apollodoros of Erythrai asserts that she, who was his fellow citizen, predicted to the Greeks making for Ilium both that Troy would perish and that Homer would write false tales.” {From Jacoby’s Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker I-III, translated by Eran Almagor, published by Brill’s New Jacoby [database] 2016.}

Apollodoros of Erythrai BNJ 422F1c as cited in Scholia on Plato Phaedrus 244b (c. 3rd Century BC): “The fifth (Sibyl) is that of Erythrai, who prophesied on the occurrences of the Trojan War, and whom Apollodoros of Erythrai mentions in detail.” {From Jacoby’s Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker I-III, translated by Eran Almagor, published by Brill’s New Jacoby [database] 2016.}

Apollodoros of Erythrai BNJ 422F1d as cited in The Sibylline Oracles Prologue 2.41 (c. 3rd Century BC): “The fifth (Sibyl) is that of Erythrai, who prophesied before the Trojan War as Apollodoros of Erythrai confirms.” {From Jacoby’s Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker I-III, translated by Eran Almagor, published by Brill’s New Jacoby [database] 2016.}

Pausanias Description of Greece 10.12.1 (c. Mid 2nd Century-180 AD): : “There is a rock sticking up out of the earth at which the Delphians say the Sibyl Herophile stood to sing her oracles. … [Herophile] seems to have been born before the Trojan war even so, and to have foretold Helen in her prophecies: how she would be reared in Sparta for the ruin of Asia and of Europe, and how through her Troy would fall to the Greeks.” {From Pausanias Guide to Greece 1: Central Greece, translated by Peter Levi, published by Penguin Classics 1979, p. 435.}

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Helen’s Prologue 5: The Conception and Birth of Helen - Part 5 (Late Antiquity to Medieval Sources)

Chapter 5: The Conception and Birth of Helen – Part 5 (Late Antiquity to Medieval Sources)

Artistic Depictions

Coptic Relief Fragment. ID: AN1970.403 (c. 3rd-4th Century AD): [Image found at https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Leda-raped-by-Zeus-disguised-as-a-swan-Source-Ashmolean-Museum-AN1970403-Oxford_fig6_236585086].

Coptic Limestone Frieze Fragment. Museum: Brooklyn Museum (c. 4th-5th Century AD): [Image found at https://d1lfxha3ugu3d4.cloudfront.net/images/opencollection/objects/size4/55.2.1_PS2.jpg].

Coptic Limestone Relief. ID: Cairo Coptic Museum Inv. No. 7026 (c. 450 AD): [Image found at https://www.akg-images.co.uk/archive/-2UMDHU4CKH9J.html].

Literary Version

Servius Scholia on Virgil Aeneid 3.328 paraphrase (c. 400-420 AD): The Dioscuri and Helen were born from one egg after the mating of Zeus/swan and Leda. {Paraphrase from Early Greek Myth: Volume 1 by Timothy Gantz, published by John Hopkins University Press 1996, p. 321.}

First Vatican Mythographer 77 (c. Late 9th-Mid 11th Century AD): ¨Striving after the love of the maiden Leda, Jupiter changed himself into a swan and pretended that he was fleeing from an eagle. He had transformed Mercury into the eagle. Thus, received into the lap of Leda, he had intercourse with her; she produced an egg from which three offspring were born: Castor, Pollux, and Helen.¨ {From The Vatican Mythographers, translated by Ronald E. Pepin, published by Fordham University Press 2008, p. 45.}

First Vatican Mythographer 201 (c. Late 9th-Mid 11th Century AD): “In the form of a swan, he [Zeus] had intercourse with Leda, the wife of Tyndarus. Thus two eggs were produced. Castor and Pollux came from one of these eggs; from the other was born Clytaemnestra and Helen.” {From The Vatican Mythographers, translated by Ronald E. Pepin, published by Fordham University Press 2008, pp. 87-88.}

Second Vatican Mythographer 155 (c. 11th Century AD): “Jupiter changed into a swan and had intercourse with Leda, daughter of Thestius and wife of Tyndareus. She gave birth to Pollux and Helen by Jove, and by Tyndareus she gave birth to Castor.” {From The Vatican Mythographers, translated by Ronald E. Pepin, published by Fordham University Press 2008, p. 162.}

Third Vatican Mythographer 3.6 (c. 12th-13th Century AD): “The fable says that Jove changed into a swan and had intercourse with Leda. She conceived and brought forth an egg from which three children were born: Castor, Pollux, and Helen.” {From The Vatican Mythographers, translated by Ronald E. Pepin, published by Fordham University Press 2008, p. 221.}

Third Vatican Mythographer 15.3 (c. 12th-13th Century AD): “Jupiter had intercourse with Leda in the form of a swan. By her he produced two eggs. From one, Helen and Clytemnestra were born; from the other, Pollux and Castor, who were the most skilled and the most honorable rulers in Greece.” {From The Vatican Mythographers, translated by Ronald E. Pepin, published by Fordham University Press 2008, p. 331.}

Etymologicum Genuinum (c. Mid 9th Century AD): “Helenê: It comes from being born on the ground [helos].” {From Destroyer, Born on The Ground, Pitiable: Etymologies for Helen, translated by twitter correspondent @sentantiq, published by https://sententiaeantiquae.com/, 2017. Retrieved from https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2017/08/03/destroyer-born-on-the-ground-pitiable-etymologies-for-helen/}.

Etymologicum Magnum (c. 1150 AD): “Helenê: she was thrown in a marshy [helôdei] place by Tyndareus once she obtained some divine prescience and she was taken back up by Leda. Helenê was named from pity [heleos].” {From Destroyer, Born on The Ground, Pitiable: Etymologies for Helen, translated by twitter correspondent @sentantiq, published by https://sententiaeantiquae.com/, 2017. Retrieved from https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2017/08/03/destroyer-born-on-the-ground-pitiable-etymologies-for-helen/}.

Giovanni Boccaccio Genealogy of The Pagan Gods 5.40 (c. 14th Century AD): “[Tyndareus] married Leda, who, if not by him, by Jupiter gave birth in the palace to Castor, Pollux, Helen, and Clytemnestra, although there are those who say that Castor and Clytemnestra were not children of Jupiter but of Tyndareus. I think that all four belonged to Tyndareus, but let me not subtract sons from such a virtuous god to whom antiquity has attributed them so liberally.” {From Boccaccio Genealogy of The Pagan Gods Volume 1: Books I-V, translated by Jon Solomon, published by Harvard University Press 2011, p. 749.}

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Helen’s Prologue 4: The Conception and Birth of Helen - Part 4 (Roman Era Sources)

Chapter 4: The Conception and Birth of Helen – Part 4 (Roman Era Sources)

Artistic Depictions

Roman Marble Statue Copy (c. 2nd Century AD) of Attic Original (c. Mid 1st Century BC). ID: Venice National Archaeological Museum Inv. No. 30: [Image found at http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=5472].

Roman Sardonyx. Museum: Saint Petersburg, The State Hermitage Collection (c. 1st Century BC): [Image found at http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=919].

Pompeiian Fresco. Museum: Naples National Archaeological Museum (c. 1st Century BC – 1st Century AD): [Image found at https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ce/bb/c6/cebbc68bdc78c345693a4e52edefe8cb.jpg].

Roman Marble Relief. ID: British Museum 1973,0302.1 (c. 50-100 AD): [Image found at http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=102484001&objectId=406238&partId=1].

Roman Teracotta Oil Lamp. ID: Munich 8958396304 (c. 1st Century AD): [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Leda_and_the_swan%2C_terracotta_Roman_oil_lamp_1st_century_AD%2C_Staatliche_Antikensammlungen%2C_Munich_%288958396304%29.jpg].

Roman Marble Relief. Museum: Heraklion Archaeological Museum (c. 1st-2nd Century AD): [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Leda_and_the_Swan_archmus_Heraklion.jpg].

Roman Mosaic. Museum: Kouklia Museum (c. Late 2nd Century AD): [Image found at http://ancientrome.ru/art/artwork/mosaic/gr/cyprus/m0048.jpg].

Literary Version

Hyginus Fabulae 77 (c. 2nd-3rd Century AD): “Jupiter changed his form into a swan and ravished Leda daughter of Thestius by the river Eurotas. By him she gave birth to Pollux and Helen; by Tyndareus, Castor and Clytaemnestra.” {From Apollodorus’ Library and Hyginus’ Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, published by Hackett Publishing 2007, p. 123.}

Hyginus Fabulae 78 (c. 2nd-3rd Century AD): “Oebalus’ son Tyndareus fathered Clytaemnestra and Helen by Leda daughter of Thestius.” {From Apollodorus’ Library and Hyginus’ Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, published by Hackett Publishing 2007, p. 123.}

Hyginus Poetic Astronomy 2.8 (c. 2nd-3rd Century AD): “Jupiter, when he became enamored of Nemesis and could not persuade her to lie with him, fulfilled his desire by the following ruse. He ordered Venus to take on the likeness of an eagle and to follow him; he himself assumed the form of a swan, and, pretending to flee the eagle, sought safety with Nemesis, settling himself in her lap. Nemesis did not spurn him but held him in her arms until she fell asleep. As she slept, Zeus ravished her then flew away, and, because he appeared to men to fly high in the sky, it was believed he was placed among the stars. So that this belief might not be disproved, Jupiter, reflecting what had occurred, placed in the heavens a swan in flight, pursued by an eagle. Nemesis, however, as one connected with the race of bird, in due course brought forth an egg which Mercury carried away to Sparta and threw into the lap of Leda, as she was sitting. From this egg was born Helen, who surpassed all other women in beauty, and whom Leda called her daughter. Others, however, say that Jupiter changed himself into a swan and lay with Leda.” {From Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook, translated by Theony Condos, published by Phanes Press 1997, pp. 93-94.}

Ovid Heroides 8.67 (c. 25-16 BC): “[Hermione writes to Orestes]: I’ll not recite the false words of the swan nor complain about the feathers of Jove.” {From Ovid Heroides, translated by Harold Isbell, published by Penguin Classics 2004, p. 71.}

Ovid Heroides 17.43 and 17.51 (c. 25-16 BC): “[Helen writes to Paris]: Her downfall came through deception: her lover was hiding within a bird’s plumage. … Tricked by the swan, the bird she took to her breast, Leda gave me Jove as my father.” {From Ovid Heroides, translated by Harold Isbell, published by Penguin Classics 2004, pp. 168-169.}

Ovid Metamorphoses 6.110 (c. 8 AD): “[Arachne weaves in her tapestry]: Leda on her back beneath the swan [‘s white wings by the stream].” {From Ovid The Metamorphoses, translated by Horace Gregory, published by A Mentor Book 1960, p. 166. Bracketed additions from Ovid Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More, published by Cornhill Publishing 1922. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidMetamorphoses6.html#1}.

Lactantius Divine Institutes 1.21 (c. 303-311 AD): “It is customary for the names of the dead who are deified to be changed … Leda became Nemesis.” {From Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. 7, translated by William Fletcher, published by Christian Literature Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/07011.htm}.

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Helen’s Prologue 3: The Conception and Birth of Helen - Part 3 (Greek Hellenistic Sources)

Chapter 3: The Conception and Birth of Helen – Part 3 (Greek Hellenistic Sources)

Apollodorus Library 3.126 (c. 61/60 BC-2nd Century AD): “Tyndareus and Leda had Timandra, whom Echemos married, and Clytaemnestra, whom Agamemnon married, and also Phylonoe … Zeus, in the form of a swan, slept with Leda, and on the same night Tyndareus also slept with her. Zeus fathered Polydeuces and Helen; Tyndareus fathered Castor.” {From Apollodorus’ Library and Hyginus’ Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, published by Hackett Publishing 2007, p. 60.}

Lycophron Alexandra 86 (c. 190 BC): “[Cassandra speaks]: [Helen] whom the water-roaming vulture brought to birth, husked in a rounded shell.” {From Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, translated by A.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press 1921, Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra1.html}.

John Tzetzes on Lycophron Alexandra 88 (c. mid 12th Century-1180 AD): “Zeus made himself look like a swan and joined Nemesis near the river Ocean. From this union, she laid an egg which Leda received, warmed, and then bore Helen and the Dioscouri” {From Fragmentary Friday: Nemesis, Helen’s Other Mother, translated by twitter correspondent @sentantiq, published by https://sententiaeantiquae.com/, 2016. Retrieved from https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2016/08/19/fragmentary-friday-nemesis-helens-other-mother-2/}.

Lycophron Alexandra 506 (c. 190 BC): “[Cassandra speaks]: those wolves whose head a cloven egg-shell covers, … the twin half-mortal Lapersii.” {From Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, translated by A.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press 1921. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra2.html}.

John Tzetzes on Lycophron Alexandra 506 (c. mid 12th Century-1180 AD) paraphrase: The Dioscuri wear a conical cap resembling half an egg-shell, half the Leda-egg from which they were born. They are called Lapersii because they sacked Las in Laconia. {Paraphrase from A.W. Mair’s footnotes to Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, published by Harvard University Press 1921. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra2.html}.

Anonymous Poets as cited in Plutarch Table-Talk 2.3.3 (before 1st Century AD): “Hence an earth-born egg is not on record, but the poets say even of the egg whence came the sons of Tyndareüs that it appeared as fallen from heaven.” {From Plutarch Moralia Volume VIII: Table-Talk, Books 1-6, translated by P. A. Clement and H. B. Hoffleit, published by Harvard University Press 1969, p. 153.}

Antiphilus of Byzantium fragment as cited in The Greek Anthology 5.307 (c. 1st Century AD): “This is the Laconian river Eurotas, and that is Leda undraped, and the one disguised as a swan is the son of Cronus.” {From The Greek Anthology: Books 1-5, translated by W.R. Paton, published by Harvard University Press 2014, p. 433.}

Pausanias Description of Greece 3.16.1 (c. Mid 2nd Century-180 AD): “There is an egg here [in the sanctuary of the Leukippides at Sparta, wives of the Dioscuri] hanging from the roof tied with ribbons; they say this is the legendary egg which was laid by Leda.” {From Pausanias Guide to Greece Volume 2: Southern Greece, translated by Peter Levi, published by Penguin Classics 1979, p. 54.}

Ptolemy Hephaestion New History Book 4 as cited in Photius Bibliotheca 190 (c. 2nd Century AD): “[H]er name of Helen came from the fact that Leda brought her into the world in a marshy place.” {From Photius Bibliotheca or Myriobiblon, translated by Rene Henry, published by The Tertullian Project, 2002. Retrieved from http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_05bibliotheca.htm#190}.

Neocles of Croton (before Early 3rd Century AD) and Herodorus of Heraclea BNJ 31F21 (c. Late 5th Century BC) as cited in Athenaeus Deipnosophists 2.57f: “Neocles of Croton was mistaken to say that the egg from which Helen was born fell from the moon; for moon-women produce eggs, but the people born there are 15 times larger than us, according to Herodorus of Heracleia.” {From Athenaeus The Learned Banqueters Volume I: Books 1-3.106e, translated by S. Douglas Olson, published by Harvard University Press 2007, p. 325.}

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Helen’s Prologue 2: The Conception and Birth of Helen - Part 2 (Classical Sources)

Chapter 2: The Conception and Birth of Helen – Part 2 (Classical Sources)

Note: Instructions for how to find LIMC images are at the bottom of the post.

Literary Version

Cratinus Nemesis Testamonia i(a) as cited in Eratosthenes The Constellations 25 (c. 431 BC): “It is said that Zeus, enamored of Nemesis, transformed himself into a bird when she changed her shape and assumed the form of a swan in order to protect her virginity. Zeus changed himself into a swan and flew down to Rhamnus in Attica, where he ravished her. She bore an egg, from which Helen was hatched, as the poet Cratinus recounts.” {From Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook, translated by Theony Condos, published by Phanes Press 1997, p. 93.}

Eratosthenes The Constellations 25 (c. Late 1st Century AD): “Because he did not change his shape but flew away thus to heaven, Zeus placed the image of a swan among the stars.” {From Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook, translated by Theony Condos, published by Phanes Press 1997, p. 93.}

Cratinus Nemesis Testamonia 1(b) as cited in Vatican Fragments (c. 431 BC): “About the Bird: this is called the Great, whom they identify with a swan. Zeus turned himself into such a creature and flew off to Rhamnus in Attica and there ravished Nemesis. She then laid an egg, from which Helen was born.” {From Fragments of Old Comedy, Volume 1: Alcaeus to Diocles, translated by Ian C. Storey, published by Harvard University Press 2011, p. 325.}

Cratinus Nemesis Testamonia 1( c ) as cited in Germanicus’ Latin Version of Aratus’ Phaenomena (c. 431 BC): “This is the swan, into which they say that Jupiter transformed himself and flew to the land of Rhamnus in Attica, where he ravished Nemesis, and that she laid an egg from which Helen was born, as Cratinus, the comic writer says.” {From Fragments of Old Comedy, Volume 1: Alcaeus to Diocles, translated by Ian C. Storey, published by Harvard University Press 2011, p. 325.}

Cratinus Nemesis fragment 114-115 as cited in Athenaeus Deipnosophists 9.373d-e (c. 431 BC): “[Someone talking to Zeus]: Therefore you must become a large bird. … [Someone talking to Leda]: Here is your task, Leda. You must behave just like a proper hen and brood over this egg, from which you may hatch for us a beautiful and wonderful chick.” {From Fragments of Old Comedy, Volume 1: Alcaeus to Diocles, translated by Ian C. Storey, published by Harvard University Press 2011, pp. 325-326.}

Description of The Nemesis Statue by Agoracritus, falsely attributed to his teacher Pheidias as cited in Pausanias Guide to Greece 1.33.3, 1.33.7 (c. 431-424 BC): “Pheidias carved this block to make a statue of Nemesis [for the Sanctuary of Nemesis at Rhamnous], with a crown on her head ornamented with deer and tiny Victories. In one hand she has an apple-branch and in the other an engraved bowl with figures of Ethiopians. … Pheidias had heard this [story in 1.33.7 below]; he carved Helen being brought from Nemesis to Leda’s breast.¨ {From Guide to Greece 1: Central Greece, translated by Peter Levi, published by Penguin Classics 1979, pp. 95, 97.}

Pausanias Description of Greece 1.33.7 (c. Mid 2nd Century-180 AD): “The Greeks say Nemesis was the mother of Helen, and that Leda only gave Helen the breast and reared her: in the same way they and everyone else believe Helen’s father was Zeus and not Tyndareus.” {From Guide to Greece 1: Central Greece, translated by Peter Levi, published by Penguin Classics 1979, pp. 96-97.}

Description of The Nemesis Statue by Agoracritus, falsely attributed to his teacher Pheidias as cited in Strabo Geography 9.1.17 (c. 431-424 BC): “Rhamnus has the statue of Nemesis, which by some is called the work of Diodotus and by others of Agoracritus the Parian, a work which both in grandeur and in beauty is a great success and rivals the works of Pheidias.” {From Strabo Geography Volume IV: Books 8-9, translated by Horace Leonard Jones, published by Harvard University Press 1927, p. 263.}

Description of The Nemesis Statue by Agoracritus, falsely attributed to his teacher Pheidias as cited in Pliny The Elder 36.4 (c. 431-424 BC): “Another of his [Pheidias’] pupils was Agoracritus of Paros, who pleased him, moreover, because of his youthful good looks, and consequently Pheidias is said to have allowed him to pass as the author of several of his own works. However that may be, the two pupils [Alcamenes and Agoracritus] competed with each other in making a Venus, and Alcamenes won the contest, not indeed through his skill, but through the votes of his fellow-citizens, who supported their kinsman at the expense of his foreign rival. Consequently, Agoracritus is reported to have sold his statue under a proviso that it should not remain in Athens, and to have called it Nemesis. It was set up within Attica in the deme of Rhamnus, and Marcus Varro preferred it to any other statue.” {From Pliny Natural History Volume X: Books 36-37, translated by D. E. Eichholz, published by Harvard University Press 1962, pp. 13, 15.}

Euripides Helen 16-21, 257-259 (c. 412 BC): “[Helen speaking to audience]: It is a place called Sparta, and my father was Tyndareus: though they tell a story about how Zeus took on himself the shape of a flying swan, with eagle in pursuit, and came on wings to Leda my mother, and so won the act of love by treachery. … [Helen speaking to chorus]: No woman, neither in Greece nor yet in Barbary, is hatched from the white envelope that contains young birds, yet thus Leda bore me to Zeus, or so they say.” {From The Complete Greek Tragedies Volume III: Euripides, translated by Richmond Lattimore, published University of Chicago Press 1992, pp. 417, 427}.

Euripides Orestes 1386-1388 (c. 408 BC): “[Phrygian speaks to Coryphaeus]: [O]f birdborn loveliness the eye, lovely eye of swan of Zeus, swan that sank in Leda’s lap.” {From The Complete Greek Tragedies Euripides IV, translated by William Arrowsmith, published by University of Chicago Press 1992, p. 190.}

Euripides Iphigenia in Aulis 50 and 794-800 (c. 405 BC): “[Agamemnon speaks to Old Man]: Three girls were born to Leda, daughter of Thestius: Phoebe, Clytemnestra, who is my wife, and Helen. … [Chorus speaks]: If the story is to be believed, the story that Leda bore you to a winged bird, to Zeus himself transformed! But perhaps this is a fable from the book of the Muses borne to me out of season, a senseless tale.” {From The Complete Greek Tragedies Euripides IV, translated by Charles R. Walker, published by University of Chicago Press 1992, pp. 219, 256.}

Isocrates Helen 10.59 (c. 370 BC): “In the guise of a swan he [Zeus] took refuge in the bosom of Nemesis, and again in this form he espoused Leda.” {From Isocrates Volume III, translated by La Rue Van Hook, published by Harvard University Press 1945, p. 93.}

Eriphus fragment 7 (c. 4th Century BC) as cited in Athenaeus Deipnosophists 2.58b: “Eriphus mentions goose eggs:

(A. speaks): Eggs.

(B. speaks): Big white ones; I think they’re goose eggs.

(A speaks): But this fellow says Leda laid them!”

{From Athenaeus The Learned Banqueters Volume I: Books 1-3.106e, translated by S. Douglas Olson, published by Harvard University Press 2007, p. 327.}

Asclepiades of Tragilus The Subjects of Tragedy BNJ 12F11 as cited in Scholia on Hesiod Theogony 223 (c. 4th Century BC): “Asklepiades says in his Tragoidoumena that, having changed his shape to that of a swan, Zeus had intercourse with Nemesis.” {From Felix Jacoby’s Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker I-III, translated by Suluchana R. Asirvatham, published by Brill’s New Jacoby [database] 2014.}

Clearchus of Soli Erotica fragment 35 (c. 4th-3rd Century BC) as cited in Athenaeus Deipnosophists 2.57e-f: “They also referred to the parts of houses we call upper floors “huperōa” as eggs “ōa”, according to Clearchus in his Erotica, where he claims that Helen was brought up in rooms of this sort and thus got a widespread reputation for having been born from an egg.” {From Athenaeus The Learned Banqueters Volume I: Books 1-3.106e, translated by S. Douglas Olson, published by Harvard University Press 2007, p. 325.}

Artistic Depictions

Attic Red-Figure Stemless Cup by Xenotimus Painter. ID: Boston 99.539 (c. 430-425 BC): Tyndareos [name misspelled], white-haired and bearded, stands on the left side of the altar, wearing a long sleeveless chiton, a himation, a wreath of long leaves, and holding a sceptre in his left hand. On the other side of the altar, Leda [named] starts away with arms extended, looking back, as if surprised and alarmed at seeing the egg. She wears a peplos, with overfall and short kolpos, below which the ends of the girdle are seen. The hair is gathered up at the back, in simple fashion. Another woman stands to the left of Tyndareos, with her right hand raised, taking more quiet note of the occurrence. It is Klytaimestra [named] wearing chiton and himation. A fillet passes thrice round her head, and the hair is done up into a ball.1 [Image found at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/image?img=Perseus:image:1992.11.0387] {Commentary from Caskey & Beazley, 1931.}.

Attic Red-Figure Terracotta Bell Krater by Polion. ID: Bonn 78 (c. 420 BC): From left to right: Tyndareus, a surprised Leda, The egg on the altar of Zeus, a statue of Zeus holding a scepter, and the Dioscuri. Above the altar hangs a bukranion (bull skull) draped with a garland. Everyone is looking at the egg.2 [Image found in LIMC Dioskouroi 185.] {Commentary from Carpenter, 1998, p. 214.}

Laconian Red-Figure Kothon Olpe ID: Athens 19447 (c. 410-400 BC): Side A: Helen is coming out of the egg on the altar of Zeus and an eagle is perched above her. Leda on the left of the egg jumps back and is startled. On the far left is a horse with one of the Dioscuri and on the far right is another horse. 3 [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/NAMA_19447_Birth_of_Helen_1.JPG] Side B: There is a horse to the right of Helen’s egg with one of the Dioscuri riding it. 3 [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/NAMA_19447_Birth_of_Helen_2.JPG] {Commentary from Gantz, 1996, p. 320}

Roman Marble Statue Copy (c. 1st Century AD) of an Original by Timotheos (c. 400 BC). ID: Getty Villa 70.AA.110: This is the first known image of Leda and The Swan. Both arms, most of the outstretched cloak, the swan's head, Leda’s head and the folds of cloth between Leda's legs are eighteenth-century restorations. [Image and Commentary found at http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/6550/unknown-maker-statue-of-leda-and-the-swan-roman-1st-century-ad/]

Attic Terracotta Lekythos. ID: Louvre CA1131 (c. 375-350 BC): [Image found at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Leda_swan_Louvre_CA1131.jpg]

Apulian Red-Figure Bell Krater by the Painter of Dijon. Museum: Provincial Archaeological Museum of Bari (c. 375-350 BC): Helen is hatching in a comedy-play with actors wearing comedy masks surrounding her. 4 [Image found at https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/514184482443809198/] {Commentary from Theoi.com H29.1}.

Campanian Paestum Red-Figured Amphora by Python. Museum: Archaelogical Park of Paestum (c. Mid 4th Century BC): Helen pops out of the egg as Tyndareus (right) and Leda, Hermes, and Aphrodite (left) look on with some surprise. [Image found at https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dc_zxxxVMAE-KeZ.jpg] {Commentary and photograph curtesy of twitter correspondent James D’Emilio.}

Campanian Red-Figure Bell Krater by the Caivano Painter. Museum: Naples National Museum (c. 340 BC): The crucial egg sits on an altar. To the left stands Leda, her eyes staring in amazement, one hand lifted in astonishment. To the right, her husband, Tyndareus, takes the event more philosophically, leaning on his staff. In the center, small, but perfectly formed, Helen emerges from the split shell of the egg, arms thrust out in the confident gesture. [Image found at https://imgur.com/mFIYIHS] {Commentary and original photograph found in Woodford, 1993, pp. 12-13.}

Apulian Red-Figure Terracotta Loutrophoros by the Painter of Louvre MNB 1148. ID: Getty Villa 86.AE.680 (c. 330 BC): The Leda and the Swan image is at the bottom of the vase. Left to right: Tyche, Swan-Zeus, Leda, and Hypnos. Leda strokes the bird's head and neck and kisses it on the beak. Hypnos waves a wand beside her head. His brow and boots are winged and he wears a cloak draped over one shoulder. Peitho presides over the scene with her arm outstretched and left breast bared. She wears a stephane crown, double necklace and bracelets and holds a ball of twine. [Image found at http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/12837/attributed-to-painter-of-louvre-mnb-1148-apulian-red-figure-loutrophoros-greek-south-italian-apulian-about-330-bc/?dz=0.4867,1.0213,1.55] {Commentary from Theoi.com H18.1}.

Bibliography

1 Attic Vase Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by L.D. Caskey and J.D. Beazley, published by Oxford University Press 1931. Retrieved from http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0003%3Aentry%3Dno.163#noteiii.70.5

2 Art and Myth in Ancient Greece by T.H. Carpenter, published by Thames and Hudson 1998

3 Early Greek Myth: Volume 1 by Timothy Gantz, published by John Hopkins University Press 1996

4 Theoi.com H29.1 The Birth of Helen. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/H29.1.html

5 The Trojan War in Ancient Art by Susan Woodford, published by Cornell University Press 1993

6 Theoi.com H18.1 Leda and The Swan. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/H18.1.html

How to Find These Images:

Go to https://www.iconiclimc.ch/ and click on visitors. Then type in the LIMC ID in quotation marks. For example, you can type in “Dioskouroi 185”.

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myspannycatworld-blog · 7 years ago

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Helen’s Prologue 1: The Conception and Birth of Helen - Part 1 (Archaic Sources)

Chapter 1: The Conception and Birth of Helen – Part 1 (Archaic Sources)

Homer Iliad 3.237 and 3.426 (c. 750-725 BC): “[Helen speaks to Antenor]: Castor, breaker of horses, and the strong boxer, Polydeuces, my own brothers, born with me of a single mother [Leda]. … Helen, daughter of Zeus of the aegis.” {From The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore, published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1993, pp. 34, 38.}

Homer Odyssey 4.184 and Nekuia 11.298-300 (c. 750-725 BC): “Helen of Argos, daughter of Zeus. … [Odysseus speaks to The Phaiakians]: And I saw Leda, who had been the wife of Tyndareos, and she had borne to Tyndareos two sons with strong hearts, Kastor, breaker of horses, and the strong boxer, Polydeukes.” {From The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore, published by Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1993, pp. 337, 412.}

Scholia on Homer Odyssey 11.298 (unknown date) paraphrase: The Dioscuri and Helen (as Zeus’) emerge from one egg. {Paraphrase from Early Greek Myth: Volume 1 by Timothy Gantz, published by John Hopkins University Press 1996, p. 321.}

Stasinus Cypria fragment 9 as cited in Clement of Alexandria Protrepticus 2.30.5 (c. Late 7th Century BC): “[Aphrodite speaks to Paris]: Castor mortal, with death his destined lot, but Polydeuces immortal, scion of the War-god.” {From Greek Epic Fragments: From The Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC, translated by M.L. West, published by Harvard University Press 2003, p. 89.}

Stasinus Cypria fragment 10 as cited in Athenaeus The Deipnosophists 8.334c (c. Late 7th Century BC): “(I am) also (aware) that the author of the epic poem the Cypria, whether this is a certain Cyprias, or Stasinus, or whatever name he prefers to be called, represents Nemesis as being chased by Zeus and turning into a fish, in the following passage: After them she bore her third child, Helen, a wonder to mortal eyes. Fair-haired Nemesis bore her after having sex with Zeus, the king of the gods, under harsh compulsion; for she tried to escape and was unwilling to have sex with Father Zeus, son of Cronus; because her mind was oppressed by shame and resentment. She tried to flee over the earth and the barren black water, but Zeus pursued her—his heart was eager to catch her—sometimes through the waves of the much-surging sea, stirring up the immense billows, when she took the form of a fish; sometimes over the river Ocean and the earth’s edges; sometimes over the mainland with its rich soil. She became all the many terrible beasts the mainland nurses, in order to escape him. {From Athenaeus The Learned Banqueters Volume IV: Books 8-10.420e, 2008, pp. 17, 19.}

Stasinus Cypria fragment 11 as cited in Philodemus On Piety B7369 (c. Late 7th Century BC): “And the author of the Cy[pria] says that Zeus pursued [Neme]sis after changing himself too into a goose, and when he had had union with her she laid an egg, from which Helen was born.” {From Greek Epic Fragments: From The Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC, translated by M.L. West, published by Harvard University Press 2003, p. 91.}

Stasinus Cypria fragment 11 as cited in Apollodorus Library 3.127 (c. Late 7th Century BC): “But some say that Helen was the daughter of Nemesis and Zeus, for when Nemesis was trying to avoid intercourse with Zeus, she changed her form into that of a goose, and he turned himself into a swan and slept with her. From their intercourse she laid an egg, which some shepherd discovered in the marshes and gave to Leda, who put it into a chest and kept it. When the time came and Helen was born, she raised her as her own daughter.” {From Apollodorus’ Library and Hyginus’ Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, published by Hackett Publishing 2007, p. 60.}

Hesiod Catalogue of Women fragment 19 (papyri fragment) (c. 540-520 BC): “The one went up into [Tyndareus’] vigorous marriage bed, Leda, [beautiful-haired, like the beams] of the moon, and bore [Timandra] and cow-eyed [Clytemestra] and Phylonoe who contended in beauty with the immortal goddesses.” {From Hesiod Volume II: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, and Other Fragments, translated by Glenn W. Most, published by Harvard University Press 2007, p. 69.}

Hesiod Catalogue of Women fragment 21 as cited in Scholium on Pindar Nemean 10.150a (c. 540-520 BC): “Hesiod provides a genealogy (i.e. for Castor and Polydeuces) deriving both of them from Zeus. . . But Hesiod says that Helen was born neither from Leda nor from Indignation [Nemesis] but from a daughter of Ocean and from Zeus.” {From Hesiod Volume II: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, and Other Fragments, translated by Glenn W. Most, published by Harvard University Press 2007, p. 73.}

Sappho 166-167 LP as cited in Athenaeus Deipnosophists 2.57d (c. 6th Century-570 BC): “They say that Leda once found an egg of hyacinth colour. … and again: far whiter than an egg.” {From Greek Lyric Volume 1: Sappho and Alcaeus, translated by David A. Campbell, published by Harvard University Press 1982, p. 171.}

Pindar Nemean 10.79 (c. 444 BC): "[A]nd Zeus stood before him [Castor] and uttered these words: 'You are my son; as for this man [Polydeuces], your mother's hero husband came to her after me and dropped his mortal seed in her.” {From Pindar: The Complete Odes, translated by Anthony Verity, published by Oxford World Classics 2007, pp. 116-117.}

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myspannycatworld-blog · 7 years ago

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Paris’ Prologue 25: The Metamorphoses of Aesacus

NOTE: Last Episode of Paris’ Prologue

Chapter 25: The Metamorphoses of Aesacus

Apollodorus Library 3.148 (c. 61/60 BC-2nd Century AD): “Priam first married Arisbe daughter of Merops, and with her he had a son, Aesacus, who married Asterope, the daughter of Cebren [river god], and when she died Aesacus was turned into a bird as he grieved. Priam gave Arisbe to Hyrtacus and got married a second time to Hecabe.” {From Apollodorus’ Library and Hyginus’ Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, published by Hackett Publishing 2007, p. 63.}

Ovid Metamorphoses 11.755-12.5 (c. 8 AD): “This bird descended from Hector's brother 's line; and if that brother had not turned bird too young, he would have been a famous Hector too. While Hecuba gave birth to the first boy, Alexiroe (so it was rumoured) came to bed with Aesacus [hidden under Ida’s shade] – and she, if I am right, was daughter of two-horned Granicus. Her boy disliked the life at court, the gaudy palaces, the streets of Troy. He took his pleasures in primitive surroundings, up the mountains, and seldom met the people down at Troy. Yet he was not ungainly in his habits, and somewhat delicate in making love. He took a fancy to Hesperia, the youthful daughter of the River Cebren, who as she sat close to her father 's river [on the velvet shaded banks], bleached her long hair beneath a noonday sun. The boy surprised her and the girl ran from him, as if he were a wolf and she a doe, or as a wild duck tries to escape a hawk. The girl gained speed; he flew on wings of love, while she, poor child, seemed to grow wings of terror. But look! A snake came sliding through the grasses, snapped at her foot, and as she fell to earth, his poison filled her veins, and flight was done. Then her young lover seemed to lose his mind; he put his arms around her: 'Oh if I had not come at you, thoughtless, foolish, wild! Your life was more to me than joy to take you. The snake and I are brother murderers, and I the cause of death far more than he – and death shall be my comfort after all!'

With this, he tossed himself off a high cliff [into the sea below]. Tethys who saw him fall, felt pity for him, and as he fell, she covered him with feathers, then, floating seaward, he sailed free of Death – yet this was not the freedom he desired. Up, up he clambered, flapping awkward wings, then threw himself to sea for Death to take him [but his feathers broke all danger of that fall]. Such frenzied self-abasement made him slender, his legs, his neck grew long – and the sea claimed him, kept him a curious bird and half a sailor; they named him Margus, proper for a diver. Since patriarch Priam still believed his son, Aesacus, surely dead and not alive [with wings on his shoulder], he wept for him, and held a funeral service, carved on an empty tomb Aesacus’ name; and there came Hector with his other brothers. All paid their tribute to the lost, thought dead – all except Paris, who a brief time after this eloped with a young bride, seduced her, stole her, which opened a long war against the Trojans.” {From Ovid The Metamorphoses, translated by Horace Gregory, published by A Mentor Book 1960, pp. 320-321, 325. Bracketed additions from Ovid Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More, published by Cornhill Publishing 1922. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidMetamorphoses11.html#9}.

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myspannycatworld-blog · 7 years ago

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Paris’ Prologue 24: Chapter 24: Cassandra’s Prophesy After Paris Sails For Greece

Chapter 24: Cassandra’s Prophesy After Paris Sails For Greece

Lycophron Alexandra 348 (c. 190 BC): “And I, … within the building of my stony maiden chamber without ceiling, hiding my body in the unroofed tenement of my dark prison.” {From Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, translated by A.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press 1921, Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra1.html}.

Lycophron Alexandra 1-30 (c. 190 BC) paraphrase: An unnamed speaker promises to tell his “master” what he desires to know. The speaker immediately apologizes for the length and difficulty of his speech, and states that he will be reporting a puzzling prophecy uttered by an inspired maiden. He advises his addressee that its proper interpretation will require learning and intelligence, and promises to retrace its winding turns “like a winged runner”. He sets the scene at the break of Dawn, whose husband Tithonus is his master’s half-brother; he goes on to describe the launching of a fleet of ships, and reports that at the moment of their departure, “Alexandra began to speak from the “Hill of Doom”. (The master = Priam, fleet of ships = Paris’ ships, Alexandra = Cassandra, Hill of Doom = Troy.) {Paraphrase from The Alexandra of Lycophron: A Literary Study by Charles McNelis and Alexander Sens, published by Oxford University Press, 2016, p. 47.}

Lycophron Alexandra 86 (c. 190 BC): “I see the winged firebrand rushing to seize the dove, the hound of Pephnos, whom the water-roaming vulture brought to birth, husked in a rounded shell.” {From Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, translated by A.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press 1921, Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra1.html}.

Lycophron Alexandra 249 (c. 190 BC): “And now Ares, the dancer, fires the land, with his conch leading the chant of blood. And all the land lies ravaged before my eyes and, as it were fields of corn, bristle the fields of the gleaming spears. And in my ears seems a voice of lamentation from the tower tops reaching to the windless seats of air, with groaning women and rending of robes, awaiting sorrow upon sorrow.” {From Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, translated by A.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press, 1921, Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra1.html}.

Note: Cassandra predicts the fall of Troy, the death of brothers Hector and Troilus, sisters Polyxena and Laodice, her parents, and of herself during this prophecy.

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Paris’ Prologue 23: Paris’ Voyage to Greece

Chapter 23: Paris’ Voyage to Greece

Lycophron Alexandra 90 (c. 190 BC): “[Cassandra speaks]: And thee [Paris], cuckold sailor, the downward path of Acheron shall receive, walking no more the byres of thy father’s rugged steadings, as one when thou wert arbiter of beauty for the three goddesses. But in place of stables thou shalt pass the Jaws of the Ass and Las, and instead of well-foddered crib and sheepfold and landsman’s blade a ship and oars of Phereclus shall carry thee to the two thoroughfares and the levels of Gytheion, where, on the rocks dropping the bent teeth of the pine-ship’s anchors to guard against the flood, thou shalt rest from gambols thy nine-sailed fleet.” {From Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, translated by A.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press 1921. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra1.html}.

John Tzetzes Scholia on Lycophron Alexandra 90 (c. mid 12th Century-1180 AD) paraphrase: Paris will reach Taenarum in Laconia where there’s a fabled entrance to Hades and the Acheron river. Then he will pass Onugnathus, the cape of Laconia [the Jaws of the Ass], and Las. Afterwards, he will sail through the entrance and exit between Cranae and the mainland [the two thoroughfares] until he reaches Gytheion, a haven near Sparta. {Paraphrase from A.W. Mair’s footnotes to Callimachus: Hymns and Epigrams, Lycophron and Aratus, published by Harvard University Press 1921. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra1.html}.

Ovid Heroides 16.17-38 (c. 25-16 BC): “[Paris writes to Helen]: I have set sail for your shores at her command. You should not sin without knowing this: I sail from my port, and no minor goddess has favoured me with her protection. The prize for which I am in contest is great, but I want nothing that is not mine. She who came from Cythera has already promised you for my wedding chamber. With her [Venus] as my pilot, I left the beaches of Sigeum behind me; riding in a stern built by Phereclus, I have sailed the doubtful ways of the ocean’s flood. She it is who favours me with gentle winds and a kindly breeze – without a doubt she rules the sea because she came from the sea. May it be that she still favour me: may she still quiet the surges of my heart as she calms the tumult of the wave; may it be granted to me that with her help my pledges will find their safe harbour.

I carried with me the flames of my desire, this blaze was not kindled in this place. Neither a harsh storm nor a lost way brought me; it was the cause of such a voyage, from the beginning my ships were on a course that only took them to Taenarus and do not think that I come as a merchant, plying the sea-lanes with a hull filled with goods – what I have, may the gods keep. Nor have I travelled to see the sights in your Greek towns – the kingdom from which I sail has cities that are richer by far. It is you that I have come, it is you whom bright Venus promised for my bed, you alone were the one desire of my heart even before you were known to me. You were in my mind before I saw you with my eyes; rumour first brought hurt to me.” {From Ovid Heroides, translated by Harold Isbell, published by Penguin Classics 2004, pp. 148-149.}

Colluthus Rape of Helen 202-230 (c. 392 AD): “And now [Paris] had just left the hills of Ida for the deep, and, after with many a sacrifice upon the shore he had besought the favour of Aphrodite that attended him to aid his marriage, he was sailing the Hellespont over the broad back of the sea, when to him there appeared a token of his laborious toils. The dark sea leapt aloft and girdled the heaven with a chain of dusky coils and straightway poured forth rain from the murky air, and the sea was turmoiled as the oarsmen rowed. Then when he had passed Dardania and the land of Troy and, coasting along, left behind the mouth of the Ismarian lake, speedily, after the mountains of Thracian Pangaeon, he saw rising into view the tomb of Phyllis … Then across the rich land of the Haemonians there suddenly arose upon his eyes the flowery Achaean land, Phthia, feeder of men, and Mycene of wide streets. Then past the marshes where Erymanthus rises he marked Sparta of fair women, the dear city of the son of Atreus, lying on the banks of the Eurotas. And hard by, established under a hill’s shady wood, he gazed upon her neighbour, lovely Therapne. Thence they had not far to sail, nor was the noise of the oars rowing in the calm sea heard for long, when they cast the hawsers of the ship upon the shores of a fair gulf and made them fast, even they whose business was the works of the sea.” {From Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus, translated by A.W. Mair, published by Harvard University Press 1928, pp. 557, 559. Retrieved from http://www.theoi.com/Text/Colluthus.html}.

Trojumanna Saga Redaction (c. Mid 13th Century AD): “According to what Alexander had said had been revealed to him in Daskogr [The Judgement of The Goddesses Dream], he felt he had full knowledge that there was no women in all Greece as noble as Helen Star, who was the wife of Menelaus. Some letters had passed between Alexander and her, so that some intimacy had arisen between them. And when they had prepared everything, they set out from the harbor with all their troops. And they had a man as a guide who had previously traveled with Antenor, and he was named Pardon.” {From The Dares Phrygius version of “Trojumanna saga”: A case study in the cross-cultural mutation of narrative by Randi Claire Eldevik, sent to Harvard University [thesis], 1987, p. 223.}

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Paris’ Prologue 22: Oenone Tries to Stop Paris from Leaving Troy

Chapter 22: Oenone Tries to Stop Paris from Leaving Troy

Apollodorus Library 3.154 (c. 61/60 BC-2nd Century AD): “[Oenone] learned from Rhea the prophetic art and foretold to Alexander that he should not sail after Helen. She failed to convince him but told him that when he was wounded he should come to her, for she alone could heal him.” {From Apollodorus’ Library and Hyginus’ Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, published by Hackett Publishing 2007, p. 64.}

Nicander of Colophon On Poets BNJ 271-272F21 (c. 3rd-2nd Century BC) Hegesianax of Alexandria Troica BNJ 45F2 (c. 3rd-2nd Century BC) as cited in Parthenius of Nicaea Sufferings in Love 4: “[Oenone] used to reply that she knew very well that he was totally devoted to her for the time being, but that there would come a time when he would abandon her and cross over to Europe, and there, infatuated with a foreign woman, would bring war upon his own people. She went on to explain that it was fated for him to be wounded in the war and that nobody would be able to heal him save her, herself. But whenever she mentioned this he would not allow her to continue. Time went by, and Paris married Helen; Oenone resented him for what had happened and went back to Cebren and her family home.” {From Hellenistic Collection: Philitas, Alexander of Aetolia, Hermesianax, Euphorion, and Parthenius, translated by J.L. Lightfoot, published by Harvard University Press 2010, pp. 561.}

Ovid Heroides 5.41-60 (c. 25-16 BC): “[Oenone writes to Paris]: Firs were cut and hewn, a new fleet was readied and ships were launched on the deep blue waves. Your tears fell when you left, do not deny them. Victims of grief, we wept together; your arms held me closer than a clinging vine holds the elm. The wind was right but you insisted that it was not – your comrades smiled – and you returned to kiss me again. It seemed that your tongue could never say, ‘Farewell.’ A light breeze rippled the idle sails on the rigid mast, the oars made the sea white. My eyes followed your departing ship and tears fell down my cheeks to the dry sand. I prayed that you might return swiftly and I begged the daughters of Nireus to hurry you: it would be my ruin. I knew that prayer could accomplish your return, but instead my prayers helped a rival.” {From Ovid Heroides, translated by Harold Isbell, published by Penguin Classics 2004, pp. 41-42.}

Oenone Becomes Pregnant

Hellanicus of Lesbos Troica BNJ 4F29 (c. Mid-Late 5th Century BC) and Hegesianax of Alexandria Troica BNJ 45F6 (c. 3rd-2nd Century BC) as cited in Parthenius of Nicaea Sufferings in Love 34: “Oenone and Alexander had a son, Corythus.” {From Hellenistic Collection: Philitas, Alexander of Aetolia, Hermesianax, Euphorion, and Parthenius, translated by J.L. Lightfoot, published by Harvard University Press 2010, pp. 635.}

Conon Narrations Book 23 BNJ 26F1 as cited in Photius Bibliotheca 186 (c. Late 1st Century BC-Early 1st Century AD): “Oinone: The twenty-third. How Korythos was the child of Paris Alexander and Oinone, whom he married before abducting Helen.” {From Jacoby’s Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker I-III, translated by Sandra Blakely, published by Brill’s New Jacoby [database] 2011.}

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