Helen and Penelope: Two Great Women of FERVOR and LOVE

              It happened that Helen was already in marriage with Menelaus, the King of Sparta, when Aphrodite promised that she would give Paris (Alexandros) the most beautiful woman in the world, who is Helen. Three goddesses—Aphrodite, Athena and Hera—decided to compete for the golden apple that was inscribed, “To the Fairest.” They, being clever enough not to get involved in a potentially perilous situation, chose a mortal man that could judge which of them is the most beautiful. They have chosen Paris, the handsome prince of Troy. Each goddess offered him bribes in return. The bribe he has chosen was the gift of Aphrodite—to meet and marry the most beautiful in the world, and that was Helen. With the help of the goddess, Paris abducted Helen and took her to Troy where she remained until the end of the ensuing Trojan War. This is the reason why she was called Helen of Troy. The Greeks (Achaeans) banded together to restore Helen to Menelaus.  With the leadership of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, the Greek army landed in Troy and began to attack its fortifications after ten years of preparation. The Greek army includes the Greek’s great heroes, including Achilles, who is the mightiest and bravest of all warriors. The great Trojan horse that go through inside the immense walls of the kingdom of Troy and that acted as a “peace offering” to the Trojans by the Greeks and Mycenaeans, was a big swindle. Inside the gigantic horse were the soldiers including the bravest warriors that would be attacking and destroying the whole kingdom by the entire night. A prophecy was told that Troy would fall and be destroyed by victorious Greeks.

            A sequel to the Iliad, which is the Odyssey, tells all about the adventures of a clever Greek hero, Odysseus. He was the one who initiated the idea of the colossal Trojan horse in order to sack Troy and recapture Helen. Finally, all were grateful to his wiles for their triumph in making Helen go back to where she belong—to his real husband, though mistaken—King Menelaus.

            Odysseus has still not yet returned home from the ten-year Trojan War. He found Ithaca, which was his native land, invaded by the mischievous suitors of Penelope and who seek to kill his son, Telemachus. Odysseus was in the island of Ogygia where he was under the captivity of the nymph Calypso for seven years because the nymph has fallen in love with him. But he was released later on after receiving a command from Zeus through the messenger of the gods, Hermes. He was about to sail home when Poseidon, the morose god of the seas, became furious with him.  Due to harsh winds brought by the violent splashes of the sea, Odysseus has been brought to wander into strange, mysterious lands, where he encountered many dangers and adventures before he reached his indigenous land. Such of his adventures were his meeting with Princess Nausicaa, the daughter of the King of Phaeacia; the one-eyed giant Cyclops known as Polyphemus; Circe the enchantress; the seductive sirens; the wild lotus-eaters; and his journey to the land of the dead, with Hades as the god of the underworld. The King Alcinous of Phaeacia helped Odysseus return to Ithaca. He finally surmounted and slain the hostile, intimidating suitors of his wife. The end part of this story was when Odysseus became reunited with Penelope, who was very faithful to him. Penelope has portrayed great loyalty and patience in waiting for his husband for so long. She has made to dodge the onslaught of her wicked suitors.

          

                                          HELEN of Troy-- the most fairest woman in the world


            Two women of Homer’s two greatest epics, HELEN of Troy and PENELOPE of Odyssey, may have similarities and differences. They are similar with regards to their belongingness to royal-blooded families that have the power to rule an entire country. Resemblance also arises between them by the way how they fight for their love. Helen has been abducted by Paris and with all her accord, having no doubt, came with him also. The reason for their elopement is love. They love each other very much that they have forgotten to consider the possible consequences of their relationship. Helen has already been married to King Menelaus, who was considered as her mistaken husband because their engagement has only been depended on a bet. The sad fact for Menelaus was that Helen cannot love her for there was already a special someone that occupied her heart—and that was Paris. But Menelaus liked Helen so much. However, Helen longed for Paris’ real love and came to fight for her true affections towards him, ignoring the possibility of great danger that may take place.

           

                      Penelope of Odyssey-- Faithful wife of Odysseus
       Penelope has also fought for her love towards Odysseus in a loyal and virtuous way. Having not yet returned from the ten-year Trojan War, Odysseus still strives hard to come back to his home and reunite with his family again. He, too, is very faithful to his wife. Penelope is just able to overcome the temptations and the advances of his suitors while Odysseus has gone far away from her. She has developed a strong conviction that Odysseus, her husband would come back someday. How could you imagine such a wife that has really the courage and strong patience to wait for her husband for more than ten years? Her love story can ever be compared to the love story of Romeo and Juliet, which attested that nothing can depart them from loving each other except death. I could consider this love story of Penelope and Odysseus as the one of the GREATEST LOVE STORIES EVER TOLD.

            Helen and Penelope have also differences. Besides from being the most beautiful woman in the world that captured many men’s hearts, Helen has also been the cause of the destruction of many—only because of her exotic beauty that was bounded to her by the goddess. Penelope, a simple woman captured many men’s hearts only because of her husband’s wealth and power that they wanted to inherit.

Who do you consider between Helen and Penelope as the protagonist? The antagonist?

            I would consider Penelope as a protagonist because her actions do not consider any opposes or any violence that may affect the whole exposition of the story. She remained calm and patient in waiting for the reunion of Odysseus’ love for her. It showed that their TRUE LOVE for each other never dies and remains a genuine COMMITMENT forever. Knowing that Helen was the root cause of the Trojan War, which has killed thousands of men and women, I would consider her as an antagonist. Though she has fought for her love towards Paris, she, still, do not surrender, resulting the death of many people including Paris, her love.   

Helen of Troy—the BOLD Legend of LOVE

“Love is not blind. It sees but it doesn’t mind...”

                                                          -Shakespeare-

          The audacious and exhilarating epic credited to Homer has been one of the breathtaking works that has made a great contribution to the Greek Literature. It is all about the Trojan War that has brought a great destruction of the many valiant heroes of the story. The war has been caused by the abduction of Paris, the coward prince of Troy, to the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. But the true motive of the elopement of Paris with Helen is originated by the quarrel of the three goddesses, Athena, Aphrodite and Hera. They were sent by Zeus to Paris, who has to judge which of these three goddesses is the fairest. Aphrodite has given him the golden apple, which showed the image of Helen, making her the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris, seeing the gorgeous image of Helen, has ultimately fallen in love with her, capturing his heart by her faultless beauty. Aphrodite has also made Helen’s heart to capture the love of Paris.

         

          It seemed that it was already prophesized that Helen and Paris were meant for each other. But as the story went on, an inevitable situation occurred in which Helen has supposed to be the queen of Sparta and she has to marry Menelaus, the brother of the king of Mycenae, King Agamemnon. When Paris came to Troy where he has met Helen naked in front of many people including the high priests and noble kings, it was late. Helen belonged with somebody else already.

         

          As the two, Helen and Paris, went to meet each other, they were ultimately blinded by the love that is too powerful. Soon after, Paris made Helen elope from Sparta and she went with him in Troy undoubtedly. It didn’t matter for Helen that she had already made a commitment with somebody else. What was important for her was that she loved Paris so much that she didn’t care if anyone would suffer or hurt. As a result of the elopement of Paris with Helen, there occurred a great destruction of the kingdom of Troy, killing thousands of lives of the people living there, including the sovereign leaders. In the end of the story, Helen would have no choice but to go back to where she belonged—to King Menelaus of Sparta, though she cannot love him.

          In my own contemplation about how Helen had shown her love towards Paris, everything turned to be erroneous, all because of envy and resentment and because of Helen’s insensitivity towards her environment. There is no wrong about going with Paris to Troy as long as no one would be hurt or ruined. If I were Helen, I would go with Paris to Troy, if I am still not committed a love with someone else, so that I will not make impairment. I don’t like hurting somebody else’s feeling especially if that means so special for him. But, just like the situation of Helen in which she was married forcibly to Menelaus, whom she cannot love at all, I would not be going with Paris anymore though I love him most with all my heart. This is because for the sake of everybody, knowing that my love for Paris would be the root of the war and destruction of all. Yet, I would still pursue on loving him despite of everything. I would be living with Menelaus but my love for Paris will remain. In case, I would be giving an opportunity to express myself, I would honestly tell the truth about how I feel for Menelaus—that I cannot love him. I would tell this to him instead of letting him expect for a long time. Through this serendipity of mine, it would be I, who will suffer for a long time because I don’t want to be the cause of everyone’s devastation...

Matthew 5:27-29 says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But now I tell  you: anyone who looks a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart. So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell."