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The Private Life of Helen of Troy [1] by John Erskine was a novel published in 1925 by Bobbs Merrill. It was the best-selling work of American fiction in 1926, according to the Publishers' Weekly . [2] [3] The book was adapted from the Greek legend of Helen of Troy and follows the famous woman's life after the burning of Troy.
In the beginning, Menelaus - Helen's husband - leaves Troy in search of her and plans to kill her for all the trouble her beauty has caused. Instead, the two set out on a week-long voyage back to Sparta. Menelaus questions why his wife ran away from Sparta to begin with, saying that he did not believe her involvement with Paris was enough. Once at home, Helen talks with Charita and tells her that in the beginning, she thought she loved Paris and that is why she ran away with him, but she realized she only loved something he made her think of, and in the end, she only felt sorry for him. She goes on to say that she felt sorry for Paris because she could see he was "lost in the madness" just as she was. She tells her that marriage starts with love, but the people in the marriage get lost along the way and calls marriages fatal errors. [4]
The book follows Helen's family and how she navigates friendships, her marriage, and parenting her children after what many in her life call, 'the scandal.'
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Helen is a progressive woman by American standards in the 1930s, and would certainly be considered radical in ancient Greece. She defends her decision to run away with Paris and even encourages other women in the book to embrace their sexuality. Because of this, many have read the book as a satirical nod to gender politics. There is also a common feminist reading of the book because of Helen's attitude toward marriage and sexuality.
Because the book was published only five years after the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, it can be argued that a cultural focus on feminism and women's suffrage influenced why this book was so well received. Helen, in the book, represented a new kind of woman, who did what she wanted rather than what she was told, and defied male authority, which can be argued perpetuated the book's success.
The book was adapted into a silent film The Private Life of Helen of Troy in 1927, written by Gerald Duffy and directed by Alexander Korda. The film, and Duffy, were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Title Writing in 1929 (the first year the awards were held).[ citation needed ]
The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the 12th or 13th century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology, and it has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes. Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems, which have survived through fragments. Episodes from the war provided material for Greek tragedy and other works of Greek literature, and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid.
In Greek mythology, Menelaus was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta. According to the Iliad, the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen, fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of the Greek army, under his elder brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. Prominent in both the Iliad and Odyssey, Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and Greek tragedy, the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus.
Paris, also known as Alexander, is a mythological figure in the story of the Trojan War. He appears in numerous Greek legends and works of Ancient Greek literature such as the Iliad. In myth, he is prince of Troy, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, and younger brother of Prince Hector. His elopement with Helen sparks the Trojan War, during which he fatally wounds Achilles.
Helen, also known as Helen of Troy, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, and in Latin as Helena, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believed to have been the daughter of Zeus and Leda or Nemesis, and the sister of Clytemnestra, Castor, Pollux, Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta "who became by her the father of Hermione, and, according to others, of Nicostratus also." Her abduction by Paris of Troy was the most immediate cause of the Trojan War.
In Greek mythology and later art, the name Hesione refers to various mythological figures, of whom the Trojan princess Hesione is most known.
In Greek mythology, Tyndareus was a Spartan king.
In Greek mythology, Deiphobus was a son of Priam and Hecuba. He was a prince of Troy, and the greatest of Priam's sons after Hector and Paris. Deiphobus killed four men of fame in the Trojan War.
Troy is a 2004 epic historical war film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff. Produced by units in Malta, Mexico and Britain's Shepperton Studios, the film features an ensemble cast led by Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson and Orlando Bloom. It is loosely based on Homer's Iliad in its narration of the entire story of the decade-long Trojan War—condensed into little more than a couple of weeks, rather than just the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon in the ninth year. Achilles leads his Myrmidons along with the rest of the Greek army invading the historical city of Troy, defended by Hector's Trojan army. The end of the film is not taken from the Iliad, but rather from Quintus Smyrnaeus's Posthomerica, as the Iliad concludes with Hector's death and funeral.
The Private Life of Helen of Troy is a 1927 American silent comedy adventure film about Helen of Troy based on the 1925 novel of the same name by John Erskine, and adapted to screen by Gerald Duffy. The film was directed by Alexander Korda and starred María Corda as Helen, Lewis Stone as Menelaus, and Ricardo Cortez as Paris.
In Greek antiquity, Hermione was the daughter of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and his wife, Helen of Troy. Prior to the Trojan War, Hermione had been betrothed by Tyndareus, her grandfather, to her cousin Orestes, son of her uncle, Agamemnon. She was just nine years old when Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam, arrived to abduct her mother, Helen.
Helen is a drama by Euripides about Helen, first produced in 412 BC for the Dionysia in a trilogy that also contained Euripides' lost Andromeda. The play has much in common with Iphigenia in Tauris, which is believed to have been performed around the same time period.
Paris is a rock musical written by Australian rock musician Jon English and David Mackay between 1987 and 1990, based on the myth of the Trojan War. A concept album was released in Australia in 1990 with the first stage production taking place in Sydney in 2003.
Helen of Troy is a 1956 American-Italian-French epic historical drama film, based on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. It was directed by Robert Wise, from a screenplay by Hugh Gray and John Twist, adapted by Hugh Gray and N. Richard Nash. The music score was composed by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr, who shot the film in CinemaScope.
Helen of Troy is a 2003 British-American television miniseries based upon Homer's story of the Trojan War, as recounted in the epic poem, the Iliad.
King Priam is an opera by Michael Tippett, to his own libretto. The story is based on Homer's Iliad, except the birth and childhood of Paris, which are taken from the Fabulae of Hyginus.
Troy is a young adult novel by Adèle Geras, published in 2000. It is based on events in The Iliad, incorporating original stories set in the heart of the city towards the end of the Trojan War. The novel was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Award.
Cassandra is a 1983 novel by the German author Christa Wolf. It has since been translated into a number of languages.
Goddess of Yesterday is a 2002 novel by Caroline B. Cooney based on the Trojan War from Greek mythology. The book was nominated for the South Carolina Junior Book Award, and was a 2003 ALA Notable Children's Book for Older Readers
The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida, often shortened to Troilus and Cressida ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602.
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