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Helen

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

Helen in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus , and sister of Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra . While still a young girl Helen was abducted to Attica by Theseus and Polydeuces, but Castor and Pollux rescued her. Later, when she was courted by the greatest heroes and chieftains of Greece, her foster father, Tyndareus, fearful of their jealousies, demanded that each suitor swear to defend the rights of the man Helen chose. She then married Menelaus , who, when Paris carried her off to Troy, reminded her former suitors of their oath. They then recruited an army and defeated the Trojans in the Trojan War .

Some legends say that Paris forcibly abducted Helen; others that she fell in love with him and went willingly. In one peculiar account, originating in Stesichorus and used by Euripides, Helen was rescued by Proteus in Egypt, who substituted in her stead a phantom that sailed to Troy with Paris. Proteus then cared for Helen until Menelaus finally claimed her. In the Iliad and Odyssey, Helen becomes Paris' wife but is in sympathy with the Greeks. She is easily reconciled with Menelaus after the war, and they return to a peaceful life at Sparta.

There are several other accounts of the story of Helen. Some say that after she and Menelaus returned to Greece, Orestes vengefully tried to kill her but that Zeus deified her. She bore Menelaus one daughter, Hermione , and, by some accounts, a son, Pleisthenes. Helen had cults in Sparta and elsewhere and is considered by some scholars to be a "faded" goddess—perhaps an ancient fertility goddess—who became a mortal woman.

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Helen

A Dictionary of First Names | 2006 | | Copyright

Helen ♀ English vernacular form of the name (Greek Hēlēnē) borne in classical legend by a famous beauty, wife of Menelaus, whose seizure by the Trojan prince Paris sparked off the Trojan War. Her name is of uncertain origin; it may be connected with a word meaning ‘ray’ or ‘sunbeam’ compare Greek hēlios ‘sun’. It has sometimes been taken as connected with the Greek word meaning ‘Greek’, Hellēn, but this is doubtful. In the early Christian period the name was borne by the mother of the Emperor Constantine, who is now usually known by the Latin version of her name, Helena. She is credited with having found the True Cross in Jerusalem. She was born in about 248, probably in Bithynia. However, in medieval England it was believed that she had been born in Britain, which greatly increased the popularity of the name there.

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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Helen." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Helen." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Helen.html

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Helen." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Helen.html

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Helen

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

Helen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, born from an egg. In the Homeric poems she was the outstandingly beautiful wife of Menelaus, and her abduction by Paris (to whom she had been promised, as a bribe, by Aphrodite) led to the Trojan War. Helen has a non-Greek name and is probably in origin an ancient pre-Hellenic goddess connected with vegetation and fertility.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Helen." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Helen." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Helen.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Helen." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Helen.html

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Helen

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Helen In Greek legend, the beautiful daughter of Leda and Zeus. She married Menelaus, King of Sparta, but was carried off by Paris, Prince of Troy, thus provoking the Trojan War.

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"Helen." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Helen." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Helen.html

"Helen." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Helen.html

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Helen

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

Helen •Alun, Malin, Tallinn •Jacklin • franklin •chaplain, Chaplin •ratline •Carlin, marlin, marline, Stalin •Helen, Llewelyn •Mechlin •Emlyn, gremlin, Kremlin •Galen • capelin • kylin • Evelyn •Enniskillen, penicillin, villein •Hamelin • Marilyn • discipline •Colin, Dolin •goblin, hobgoblin •Loughlin •Joplin, poplin •compline • tarpaulin •Magdalen, maudlin •bowline, pangolin •Ventolin • moulin • Lublin • Brooklyn •masculine • insulin • globulin •mullein • Dublin • dunlin • muslin •kaolin • chamberlain • Michelin •madeleine • Mary Magdalene •Gwendolen • francolin • mescaline •formalin • lanolin •adrenalin, noradrenalin •crinoline • zeppelin • cipolin •Carolyn • Jocelyn • porcelain • Ritalin •Ottoline •javelin, ravelin •Rosalyn •merlin, purlin •Dunfermline • purslane

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Helen Cruz and the famous men he dated!(Entertainment) Newspaper article from: Manila Bulletin; 8/19/2005
	Helen Mihalec.(Obituaries)(Obituary) Newspaper article from: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL); 3/27/2007
	HELEN LEDERER RETURNS TO FESTIVAL TEN YEARS ON; I worry about the length of... Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England); 8/14/2004