The Re-telling of Helen of Troy
Prologue:
On a beach on the coastline of Athens, Greece in the summer of 1156 B.C.E., sat a cottage. This cottage had stone walls with a thatched roof and had acquired a quaint and pleasant-like feel to it throughout the many years it had been occupied. The waves crashed against the shore, the wind gently aroused the sea salt smell and the sand gently blew across the beach. Four people currently lived in this cottage. Two were asking for something the other two would eventually give them. Now, let us visit this scene and these four people.
Chapter One:
"Helen, can you tell us about the war again?" an energetic Hesper asked me as she gazed out the window of the cottage. Her sister Parthena nodded in agreement. They both loved my stories of when I was a child. It was the same every day; they always asked for a story and I would eventually give in.
"Fine," I chuckled as did my lifelong friend Izydora. Izydora had been my friend since the age of fourteen. She was sent to me by Isis as a gift during the war. Her name, Izydora, means gift of Isis. This is a fact that Izydora and I have always found quite funny. "But don't you ever tire of these tales?" I questioned my two lovely grandchildren.
"No, no. We love your stories, Helen," Parthena exclaimed, "and yours, too, Izydora; they are always filled with wonder and mystery."
"We will go outside to tell this story, for outside it is calming," Izydora declared. She has always loved the outdoors so much. Plus, the cottage has a stunning view of the ocean and we always go outside to tell our stories. It is actually why Izydora and I bought this cottage in the first place.
"Okay, I will try to incorporate your name sake into this story. Since your mothers Zoë passed on right after you two were born I got the pleasure of naming you."
"Now, when I was born to Leda, my mother, in 1214 B.C.E. She named me Helen, which means wicker, reed, torch, basket, and shoot. Shoot was a type of reed which my mother always put into my father's soups. Twelve years later I had an unfortunate encounter with a horrible man named Theseus who might have gotten me pregnant. I am not sure if I did get pregnant because I never gave birth to a baby. That is how you got your name, Parthena. I vowed that a girl in this family would be named Parthena which means virgin or maiden. I vowed this because of Theseus, and I kept my vow. About one year later my mother married me off to a suitor. His name was Menelaus. He is your grandfather. At this time I was thirteen and not eager to get married because, despite the common belief that a girl should get married at the youngest age possible, I thought that a girl should be able to live her life before being locked away by a man. Alas, when I met Menelaus it was love at first sight. We were married in a little villa of by the edge of the town I lived in. Subsequently, I delivered five beautiful offspring. Four handsome boys and one beautiful girl. As soon as I saw my daughter, your mother, I knew she was destined for a great life. That is how your mother got the name of Zoë because Zoë means life. Your uncles' names were Argus which means brightness, Homer which means hostage and as a reminder of my encounter with Theseus, Paris as a reminder of my capture by Paris and Troy which means water and as a reminder of the war so I would know that it would always be a part of me. The next occurrence was a most terrible memory. I was abducted by Paris. I know he meant well, as he said was doing a favor to the gods, most likely Ares and Aphrodite."
"How was it doing a favor to Ares and Aphrodite?" Parthena screeched, "Kidnapping someone doesn't lead to love or beauty! It only leads to war and maybe lust."
"I know now of this but at the time I knew not of this ulterior motive. Paris' kidnapping of me did lead to the war."
Chapter Two:
"Who are you? What do want with me? Why are you doing this to me?" I cried out into the dark abyss that was my prison. The kidnapper had locked me in this dark prison and was standing right beside me. "Why do you feel the need to torment me?" I questioned.
"Oh, don't be that way sweetie. The gods need you. That is all I shall say at this moment. Maybe if you are good you will learn more in the new day, but you don't have to resist this. I am positively sure that your poor husband Menelaus is rejoicing now that you are out of his life for good," he taunted me. All I could do was cry. Cry for being separated from my love. Cry for being kidnapped and taken away from my family. Cry for past events like my encounter with Theseus. Cry for my children because if I never got out of my personal Tartarus, they would grow up after their sixth year with no mother. When I was all out of tears I sat in the dark waiting for morning. I felt alone. All alone, I could only presume that my tormenter had left me until morning.
I prayed to the gods. Theseus said I was here because the gods need me. For what reason? This is still unrevealed. But if they are the reason that I am here, maybe they will answer my prayers. I prayed to Athena for the wisdom on how to get out of here and to Artemis that maybe she will take pity in a young girl. I sat alone in the darkness that surrounded me.
Chapter Three:
All I could remember was that face. While it was horrid, it was also sickly beautiful. I thought it was a dream. I thought it was too real to be a dream but that in a moment my children would come in and ask for their favorite morning meal. And then, all my memories came flooding back like they were desperate to be the first one I remembered.
I shuddered as I heard him speak. "Ah, finally awake now are we," he said.
"Who are you and what do the gods want with me?" I got a sudden chill with the thought of the gods wanting something out of me. I've heard the stories about the gods wanting something out of someone and then big tragedies occur. I wasn't brave but I could put up the act that I was brave enough to face this situation.
"Okay, I am Paris, sent from the gods to retrieve you." The smirk on his face was too evident to ignore and I wished I could just get up and wipe the look off of his face. "You're probably wondering why the gods want you, but stop asking because you won't get any answers in regards to that."
I was a strong spirit, as Menelaus always told me, so I didn't back down when Paris told me to stop asking about the gods. "Why do the gods need me, Paris?" After a moment of silence I summoned all of my strength and burst out, "Answer me Paris, answer me." That last bit had come out a little weaker than I had intended but I saw that I had made a breakthrough to Paris.
He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and muttered, "Feisty." Then, as he saw I was about to ask again, he said. "Calm down Helen, calm down. Your purpose to the gods will be severed very soon." He was trying to comfort me but he was only making me more nervous. "Now, as for your purpose to the gods. It is actually, in theory, only to Aphrodite and Ares. Ares was bored and wanted some entertainment and what better way to entertain the god of war then to kidnap someone. As for Aphrodite, well, she needs you for a private conversation that she won't tell me about."
"Finally, some logic to this whole mess," I said, glad that there was finally some information out in the open. "Thank you," I replied in a voice half filled with gratitude.
He had tried to respond 'No problem', but was cut off as an aura filled the cave. A blinding white light flashed in the corner and then dimed as quickly as it had come. I had looked away from the fear of being blinded.
"The goddess of love and beauty requests the immediate presence of," the man, whom I recognized as Hermes, paused to look at a scroll, "Helen, daughter of Leda, immediately on Olympus." The voice echoed through the cave for some time until it faded. The shock of being invited to Olympus took a moment to wear off.
"Okay, Helen, do exactly as she says and you will be fine," Paris told me. For once, I was going to listen to him.
"Okay, let us go Hermes," I declared.
Chapter Four:
After we left the cave, and up until we reached Mount Olympus, it was all a blur. When we got to Mount Olympus Hermes passed me off to a receptionist.
"Hi, you must be Helen," she stated in an overly peppy voice. It was good to hear such cheerfulness after Paris' harsh tone. "I am Teria," the receptionist introduced herself.
"Hello, Teria," I said, glad that I finally had some good company. "So, why do you work on Mount Olympus?" I questioned, just trying to make some conversation.
All of a sudden she got a bright look in her eyes. "Oh, I am a dryad but since my Wisteria plant is planted on Olympus I don't have to stay close to it. That is why my name is Teria," she delivered this line with such enthusiasm it was starting to rub off on to me.
"Oh I just adore wisterias. I actually have a garden full of them back at home. Also, when I got married, I picked some and wore them in my hair," I gushed to her as she led me to a glass door elevator with intricate patterns of inlayed gold.
"Okay, so through here is an elevator which will lead us to anywhere we desire," Teria said, ushering me through the doors. After we entered the elevator, we started to move and Teria started to talk about what was on each level. I detected a slight increase of happiness in her voice and figured it was because of my comment on wisteria. "Ah, this is our stop." Teria's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Um, Teria," I stuttered as we exited the elevator, "where exactly, are we going?" I was actually just doing as I was told to do: going with Hermes, following Teria, but in truth all I knew was that Aphrodite wanted a word with me.
"This is Aphrodite's lounge," Teria spoke waving her hand with a flourish. The lounge had floor-to-ceiling pink faux fur wallpaper and light pink, plush carpeting. In addition, the ceiling, which had sparkles sprinkled throughout, had a massive, elegant chandelier with heart shaped diamonds lit up by a glowing warm ball. The room also had a plush golden lounge chair with a wrap around couch that circled the entire room except for the door and one corner. In that corner there was a vanity set up.
After I had looked at the whole room, Teria started to speak again. "Aphrodite isn't here right now, but she will arrive in a few moments. However, Aphrodite's daughter, one of many, should be here soon."
"Hello Taria," a stunningly gorgeous girl with long, blond hair in ringlets which flowed down her back greeted the dryad. "Hi, you must be Helen. I am Aelia, daughter of Aphrodite." As she said this she curtsied.
"Hello Aelia. Why does everyone know my name and why are you curtsying?" I questioned Aelia, the question sounding stupid even to my own ears.
"Oh, darling. Come, sit, I will tell you the whole ordeal," she replied. Even though she sounded like she wanted to answer my question, she looked like I should already know the answers. After Teria and I sat down on a section of the wrap around couch, Aelia started explaining. "Well, really it is all quite simple. My mother, Aphrodite, went to the oracle and asked when the next big love tragedy would occur and the oracle said that in the year of 1595 a Romeo and a Juliet would have a tragic story. However, she couldn't wait that long so she took you away hoping a tragic love story to occur now. She sent me to tell you and deliver this." Aelia said, finally breaking for some air. She then pulled out a blade and handed it to me. "This blade is called upon by Katoptris." She held out a scabbard that had a worn black leather sheath, a perfectly polished wood handle and was bound in bronze. It was not fancy or flashy. It was perfect. "Aphrodite wanted you to have it for the war, Helen of Troy."
"Wait whoa. What war and why did you call me Helen of Troy?" I screamed so loudly that I think that Hades and all of the dead heard me down in the underworld.
To Be Continued…