The Love That Started a Thousand Ships

Something about antiquity has always captivated me. Perhaps the drama inherent in stories that have endured for so long, the majesty of their mythology, or the way their stories combine the heavenly and the earthly. One epic tale in particular jumps out for its combination of love, treachery, and the type of beauty that might start a war. I do, in fact, refer to the fabled romance between Prince Paris and Helen of Troy. Ascending to a period when love was a battleground, literally, buckle up, my reader. 

Has the attractiveness of someone ever enthralled you to the point that you would take a chance? Imagine yourself meeting someone so captivating that you would be prepared to endure the destruction of cities, the fury of armies, and the anger of gods. It sounds like something from a romance story, doesn't it. For Paris and Helen, it was reality, if mythical reality. Let's go back a little: how did a prince and a queen get up to start one of the most well-known battles in history? 

Picture this: King Priam is the ruler of Troy, a shining example of riches and power. Now enter Paris, his son, who is perhaps best known for his dubious ability to make decisions. He is summoned upon one day to judge a beauty pageant featuring Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Talk about being hamstrung between two rocks! Though each goddess makes an offer of bribe, Aphrodite's pledge of the love of the most beautiful lady on earth is what makes the deal. Who, then, is this woman? Spartan queen Helen was already married to King Menelaus. Paris, move along. What may possibly go wrong? 

Things start to get fascinating now. Equipped with the favor of Aphrodite, Paris travels to Sparta, where he encounters Helen. For whatever reason-real love, heavenly intervention, or just plain stupidity-Helen chooses to flee her life and elope with Paris to Troy. I can only imagine the uproar. The rumours. Has Helen been mentioned to you? Said to have fled with a Trojan prince! Menelaus is irrational. History buffs and Hollywood screenwriters are kept busy by this type of drama. 

Hell, as they say, is not furious enough for a spouse who is mistreated. Menelaus is not a person to let things go; he is furious. Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Achilles, among other Greek rulers and heroes, are rallied by him and promise to return Helen. And thus the ten-year siege known as the Trojan War gets underway, during which time many heroes would die for the sake of a single lady. Have you given the extent to which people would go for love any thought? Perhaps the mayhem that results from the meeting point of passion and pride? 

The war itself is an epic struggle, legendary duels, and gods intervening in human affairs story for another day. Let's concentrate on Helen and Paris, however. The core of this whirlwind is their love, or maybe the thought of it. Living for ten years under siege-what was it like for them? Ever glance at one another and say, "Maybe we made a mistake"? Or was their love so great that the Greeks' wrath and the walls of Troy seemed insignificant? 

The narrative of Paris and Helen is a cautionary tale as much as a romantic ideal in many respects. Unquestionably, a love so strong that it overcomes all obstacles is captivating. Conversely, it serves as a sobering reminder of the enormous effects that individual decisions may have. As it happens, Paris doesn't exactly strike me as the brightest tool in the shed. Desire-driven and maybe tinged with heavenly intervention, his acts ignite a battle that claims many lives. You think, Is love really worth that type of devastation? 

How their tale has survived throughout the years is what is really amazing. Paris and Helen's relationship enthralls readers even in contemporary retellings of Homer's "Iliad." Is it the dance of heavenly and human motives, the dramatic background of conflict, or the attraction of forbidden love? Possibly all of them are taken together. Love, desire, loyalty, and the mayhem these feelings can cause are basic elements of the human experience that their novel touches on. 

I'm fascinated, when I consider Paris and Helen, by the complexity of their stories. We are invited to consider our own lives and relationships through this narrative. How often do we decide in the midst of our enthusiasm and then have to cope with the consequences later on? Ignoring the real ramifications, do we romanticize the concept of love? What, finally, can we infer about our own nature from these old stories? 

 Ultimately, the love between Paris and Helen is a moving reminder of how human emotions can inspire both enormous harm and amazing beauty. Their legacy endures as evidence of their stories and the eternal quality of love. Therefore, bear in mind Paris and Helen the next time you find yourself engrossed in the throes of romance, and never forget that history never forgets, even if love may be blind. 

With that, my dear reader, I bid you to consider the epic love tale of Paris and Helen. Above all, a story of the force and danger of love, of passion and conflict, of beauty and treachery. May your own love pursuits be as exciting, if maybe a little less disastrous, until next time!