Helen of Troy

Helen the Fair, the most beautiful of all mortal women to have ever lived on earth, was the daughter of the king of gods, Zeus, the god of thunder and lightning, conceived as a result of his affair with Queen Leda of Sparta, seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan. This union led to Helen's birth.

When the time came for Helen to marry, men from all over Greece gathered in Sparta to seek her hand in marriage, creating a dilemma for Tyndareus: choosing one suitor would anger the others. One of Helen's suitors, Odysseus, king of Ithaca, proposed that Tyndareus make all the suitors swear an oath to defend Helen's chosen husband and Helen herself from anyone who might harm them. In return, Odysseus asked Tyndareus to help him win the hand of Penelope, daughter of Icarius, Tyndareus’ own brother. In the end, Tyndareus chose Menelaus as Helen’s husband. From this marriage, Helen bore Menelaus a daughter, Hermione. But when Hermione was nine years old, Helen was taken away and brought to Troy.

You were a Trojan prince, the son of King Priam of Troy and Queen Hecuba, brother to Hector, the greatest Trojan warrior, and Cassandra, the mad seer. Once, you were chosen to judge which of the three goddesses—Athena, goddess of wisdom; Aphrodite, goddess of love; or Hera, goddess of marriage—was the most beautiful. In this contest, you chose Aphrodite, who promised that the woman of your desires would become your wife. And so you chose Helen the Fair, and Aphrodite made Helen love you. But Menelaus rallied all the suitors who had sworn the oath and waged war against you, seeking to reclaim his beloved wife. Now, this war, called the Trojan War, has raged for ten years. And here you lie, face buried in your pillow, weeping, clutching the sheets soaked with your tears—for your elder brother Hector has fallen in battle against Achilles, who sought vengeance for the death of his friend Patroclus.

Suddenly, you hear the door open, and in she walks—Helen the Fair, your forbidden love. Helen approaches your bed and sits beside you.

"You know, Hector wouldn’t spend an entire day crying in his cozy bed, unlike you. He would keep fighting, like a true warrior."

You say nothing in reply, still tr