THE FACE THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SHIPS

 

 

                                             

 

 

THE FACE THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SHIPS 




If there was a Miss World beauty contest at that time in the world Helen of Troy would have been the winner.

 

The Miss World Beauty contest in1996 was won by Irene Skliva also a Greek national.  The business conglomerate "Godrej" sponsored the Miss World pageant in 1996 which was held in Bangalore, India.  The Diva from Greece outshined her rivals to win the beauty contest.

Irene has the Greek goddess looks and is one of the most beautiful women who is a modern-day heartthrob and deserves accolades for winning the coveted crown.

 

It shows that there are Goddess-looking beauties in present-day Greece too.

Helen of Troy set ablaze millions of hearts and also triggered a 10-year-long war to get her back from Troy by her husband. Helen was the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The queen eloped with Paris, the Prince of Troy and an agitated king fought a grueling battle to win her back and get her seated next to him on the throne.

 

"She was beautiful, ingenuous, and charming. Her legs were the best; her mouth the cutest. There was a beauty mark between her eyebrows."  Helen was thus described by Dares Phrygius in his History of the Fall of Troy.

 

We are told that she is ''beautiful,'' ''lovely,'' and ''white-armed,'' and that she often wears a white shawl. 

 

In Greek mythology, Helen was the most beautiful woman from the age of the heroes. She was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta (one of several Greek kingdoms). After Helen ran away with Paris, prince of Troy, the Greek armies fought a ten-year-long war against Troy to win her back. The English playwright, Christopher Marlowe, called Helen, "the face that launched a thousand ships."

 

 

 

Aishwarya Rai's image courtesy of "VOGUE" magazine. 

 

The image of Miss World 1994 pageant winner Aishwarya Rai has been used as both she and Helen of Troy are the most beautiful women in world history.  Considering the local interest and my personal view thought it is apt to refer to her. Aishwarya reigned supreme in her heydays.  Elizabeth Taylor was cast as Helen in the 1956 movie "Helen of Troy".

 

The legend from Greek mythology Helen was the daughter of the god Zeus (pronounced ZOOS), she is best known for the part she played in causing the Trojan War, a story told by Homer in the Greek epics Iliad and the Odyssey.

Homer is believed to have lived about the 9th or 8th century BCE and was a native of Ionia. A poet in the oral tradition, his works were likely transcribed by others. He is traditionally portrayed as blind, and some claim he was illiterate.

Judgment of Paris :

 
In celebration of the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, Lord Zeus, father of the Greek pantheon, hosted a banquet on Mount Olympus. Every deity and demi-god had been invited, except Eris, the goddess of strife (no one wanted a troublemaker at a wedding). For revenge, Eris threw the golden Apple of Discord inscribed with "For the most beautiful" (Ancient Greek, romanized, into the party, provoking a squabble among the attendant goddesses over for whom it had been meant.

 

The goddesses thought to be the most beautiful were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and each one claimed the apple. They started a quarrel so they asked Zeus to choose one of them. Knowing that choosing any of them would bring him the hatred of the other two, Zeus did not want to take part in the decision. He thus appointed Paris to select the most beautiful.

 

Escorted by Hermes, the three goddesses bathed in the spring of Mount Ida and approached Paris as he herded his cattle. Having been given permission by Zeus to set any conditions he saw fit, Paris required that the goddesses undress before him (alternatively, the goddesses themselves chose to disrobe to show all their beauty). Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so the goddesses attempted to bribe him to choose among them. Hera offered ownership of all of Europe and Asia. Athena offered skill in battle, wisdom and the abilities of the greatest warriors. Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful woman on Earth: Helen of Sparta. Paris chose Aphrodite and therefore Helen.

 

 

                                   

                        The Love of Helen and Paris by Jacques-Louis David (oil on canvas, 1788, Louvre, Paris)

 

 

Helen was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta (a fact Aphrodite neglected to mention), so Paris had to raid Menelaus's house to steal Helen from him—according to some accounts, she fell in love with Paris and left willingly.

 

The Spartans' expedition to retrieve Helen from Paris in Troy is the mythological basis of the Trojan War. This triggered the war because Helen was famous for her beauty throughout Achaea (ancient Greece), and had many suitors of extraordinary ability. Therefore, following Odysseus's advice, her father Tyndareus made all suitors promise to defend Helen's marriage to the man he chose for her. When Paris took her to Troy, Menelaus invoked this oath. Helen's other suitors—who between them represented the lion's share of Achaea's strength, wealth and military prowess—were obliged to help bring her back. Thus, the whole of Greece moved against Troy in force and the Trojan War began.

 

Menelaus won the Trojan War and took away Helen back to his kingdom.