Helen And Paris In The Iliad

The Iliad is the epic poem of war between the Achaeans and Trojans; the cause of the war is credited to Helen running away with the Trojan Prince Paris. There are myths that state that Helen and Paris were in love and Paris kidnapped her and they eloped, causing Menelaus, Helen’s husband, to begin the war. Although this myth uses the illusion of love to justify the beginnings of the war, Helen expresses to Aphrodite that she is only with cowardly Paris due to the goddess. When Aphrodite appears to Helen to tell her to meet Paris in the bedroom, Helen tells her “Lusting to lure me to my ruin once again? Where will you drive me next?” (The Iliad 3 Lines 461-462), Helen reinforces the argument that she did not desire to run away with Paris, but was rather lured by Aphrodite’s words. Helen expresses that she was limited in power which emphasizes that idea of her restricted human decisions, but her protest also exhibits that …show more content…
Helen may have initially lacked the power to stand for herself, but she had enough scope to call the goddess “maddening: (The Iliad Book 3 Line 460) and insult her by telling her to “…go to him yourself-you hover bedside him!...be a mortal!” (The Iliad Book 3 Lines 470-471). Helen is well aware of the superiority of the goddess, but is controlled by a wave of natural human behavior. This wave of behavior is a representation of how she was able to decide her actions without the say of Aphrodite. Even as Helen shows great human character, she is quickly threaten by the goddess, “Don’t provoke me…or in my immortal rage I may just toss you over…” (The Iliad Book 3 Lines 480-481). The reaction of immediate threats by Aphrodite immediately destroys the confidence and the power of protest by Helen, pushing her ability of free will out of her