Posted on 10/18/2005 11:08:43 AM PDT by blam
Helen of Troy Existed?
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
Was a Queen of Sparta Helen of Troy?
Oct. 17, 2005— Helen of Troy, described in the epic poem The Iliad, was based on a real woman, according to a new book that weaves history, archaeology and myth to recreate the famous ancient Greek beauty's life.
According to the new theory proposed by Bettany Hughes, Helen's mythological character was inspired by a wealthy Bronze Age leader from the southern mainland of Greece.
Hughes, a former Oxford University scholar who has conducted research in the Balkans, Greece, and Asia Minor, was unavailable for comment.
In her book "Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore," however, she wrote, "I believe that all three incarnations — princess, goddess and whore — find their root in a Bronze Age Helen, that the template for Helen of Troy was provided by one of the rich Spartan queens who lived and died on the Greek mainland in the 13th century B.C.; a woman who slept at night and woke at dawn, a flesh-and-blood icon, an aristocrat responsible for orgia — secretive, mysterious fertility rites — a woman so blessed, so honoured, so powerful, she appeared to walk with the gods. A mortal who, down the centuries, has become larger than life."
Based upon the writings of Homer, Sappho, the historian Herodotus, and others, Hughes thinks Helen's palace was located on a Spartan hill called Therapne near the River Eurotas. Three skeletons — one of a 30-year-old woman and two belonging to children — were excavated at the site, along with evidence of structures that had been destroyed by fire, according to Hughes.
It is unclear what happened at the site, but Hughes thinks Helen's life was short, since the average lifespan for Mycenaean females was 28 years.
"Women were mothers at twelve, grandmothers at twenty-four, dead before they were thirty," she wrote.
Homer described Helen as fair and shimmering. Hughes wrote that the shimmer came from linen clothing soaked in perfumed olive oil, which was customary for well-heeled women of the time.
While Greeks generally have dark hair, frescoes dating to Helen's era around 3,500 years ago reveal at least one woman with "tawny red hair and blue eyes."
Hughes speculated that Helen had such hair and would have been viewed as special, "entrusted with particular religious authority."
And I doubt the average Greek polis would have had compulsory military service until age 50 if the typical lifespan was 28.
"Human lifespan probably hasn't changed in hundreds of thousands of years."
Oh, yeah? What about those Old Testament dudes? Let me refer you to a couple of Young Earth Creationists. They'll set you straight. [grin]
Feminine Pulchritude Index: a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being Medusa and 10 being Helen of Troy. 5 is average by definition.
I have always thought proto-celts or some other northern/east asian peoples. I have also wondered just what the heck happened to the bronze age Greeks? Did not Greece go thru it's own a dark age 1500BC - 800BC? Wonder why?
And so, the answer to my unasked question is, "Three posts."
Dan
Probably the usual reasons - invasions coupled with famines.
Interestingly, Lithuanian has a number of striking similarities to both Ionian Greek and Sanskrit.
Of the European languages, Lithuanian may be the closest to proto-Indoeuropean.
Most likely there was a Helen of Troy, since there is good reason to think that the basic facts about the Trojan War described in the Iliad and the Odyssey are historical. You could fiddle with the minor figures, but figures like Agamemnon, Menelaos, and Helen are unlikely to have been sheer inventions.
The Achaeans were newcomers to Greece at the time of the war, who conquered and ruled over the Greeks who had lived their earlier. The usual theory is that they came down from the north. Achilles and Odysseus are both described as red-haired or blond, and so is Menelaos. Fair hair may have been fairly common among the kings and nobles of that time.
I don't see any reason to believe that this particular woman was Helen, though, and not some other noble or royal lady. It's sheer speculation, a good way to get on TV and sell books.
I remember some study that suggested that the number of men dying prematurely from job-related accidents (war, shipping, mining, quarrying, etc.) was always close to the number of women dying in childbirth.
Another brick in the Wymyn's Studies wall...
The face that sunk a thousand ships ...
Story created by some man stuck at sea for way too long, thinking about his sweetheart back at home or the girl in the last port.
I have heard that the present day Greeks are largely the descendents of Germans and Slavs who came in during the barbarian migrations.
The face that sunk a thousand ships.
Unlucky at first posting, lucky at love.
I just finished Ilium and Olympos. Simmons is crazy (I mean that in a good way).
I agree, the outline of the story is most likely true and the story's main character most likely real, with a good deal of literary license of course.
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