The next three years were uneventful. With no Clytemnestra around, I
spent most of my time pouring over old books, and my mother, Leda. Most of
the women in the palace did not like me, or, did not trust me. I suppose it
was because I took all the attention from the men at court, and I did not
try to stop it. I loved the attention. Instead of dissuading my would-be
lovers, I smiled flirtatiously at them, chatted with them about the
weather, and spent extra-time working on my appearance.
My mother, Leda, saw all this and was not pleased. "Helen, you are becoming vain," She told me one day as we sat next to the pond next to which Clytemnestra and I had talked of our futures three years ago.
"I am not mother!" Was my natural response. But even then, I knew she was right. My favorite pastimes were trying on different rouges, powders, and creams. I took special delight in ordering my clothes, and in studying and learning ways to wear ones hair. Not only was I beautiful, but also I was aware of it. From a young age, I had been surrounded by flattery, ambassadors aching to please, and, recently, the first trickle of suitors had come in, composing poetry and music, all in honor of me.
Rumors had been spread, all over the known world about me. Ridiculous rumors that I was the child of Zeus sprang up. They said the Gods had marked me. My mother was very distant whenever I mentioned such things.
"Do not listen to such lies, Helen," She told me after I had made a jest of her and Zeus, "They are beneath you."
But the funny thing was, she never denied it, she was always dismissive to me whenever I mentioned it to her.
As I grew older, my beauty did not diminish, it flourished. By the time I was sixteen, hundreds of would-be suitors were being housed in the palace.
Achilles was there again, and he was the most persistent of all my admirers. Once I had been annoyed by his cockiness, but now I took it with humor, and flirted with him just as I did with all the lovers. Many admirable men came to see me... if I had been anyone but myself I think I would have gone crazy, having to pick just one of these good men for myself. But their obsession with me did not serve to make me giddy, it made me feel above them. After all, what other woman had received this much attention?
I sat in front of my mirror, arranging my hair when a thick arm flung itself around my waist, and a hand was clamped over my mouth. I tried to scream, but the hand made that impossible. I kicked with all my might, but I might as well have been striking rock, for I was not gratified with even a grunt. My captor bound my hands and feet, and gagged my mouth with a rough piece of linen. Clutching me to him, he leapt out of the window, and we landed on the grassy patch just outside of my window. He was not young, I could tell, but he had such strength that even Achilles would have been impressed. I was flung over the back of a waiting horse, and then away we rode, away from my home, and away from Sparta.
I lost track of the days and nights, and my soul feeling was fear. We never stopped riding, until, one day we stopped by a small brook. He untied my feet, and undid the gag, but left my hands bound.
"Who are you?" I whispered, not sure whether I wanted to know the answer.
The man turned towards me, and sat down on the ground, next to me. "I am Theseus."
I had heard tales of this man; he was the Prince of Athens! And he had defeated the Minotaur. I find that, at least, ironic now, as the Minotaur was a child of Zeus. "What do you want?" I asked in a timid voice.
A smile flashed across Theseus's face, and disappeared before I could really take notice. "You are beautiful...more beautiful than anybody I have ever yet laid eyes upon."
I smiled, my usual response to such flattery. Before remembering where I was. "What do you want?" I again asked. But this time it was more of a demand rather than a question. "Well, Helen, they say you are a child of Zeus. At first I did not believe it could be true... But after I laid eyes upon you, in your father's court... I believe the rumors. I am sure you have been told you are beautiful, and while that is true, your kind of beauty is no ordinary thing. It is... otherworldly, and-"
"The point of this is?" I demanded. I refused to be taken in by such unabashed flattery. As though I, Helen, could be the sun of the mighty Zeus! "Pirithous, my good friend, and I decided long ago to each marry one of Zeus's daughter. I desire you, Helen. If I had stayed behind in Sparta, I would have been anonymous suitor. I see how you treat your admirers. You act interested in them, but that interest is only skin deep. You treat all of us the same... Smiling and laughing at our praise, but at the same time, you are detached." "If I am so 'otherworldly' as you say, should I not be detached? And, if I am the daughter of Zeus, which, I am afraid you are mistaken in believing, why should I settle for mere mortals such as yourself? I have been told the Gods favor me, have marked me out, so why should I not wait for a God like myself to love?" Theseus stared at me. "Gods, woman!" he said, throwing his arms up in the air exasperatedly, "Have they also informed you of your insatiable vanity?" "First," I said, now quite angry, "you say I am the child of the Gods. Then, when I suggest that if this be so, I should wait for somebody who should be deserving, you call me vain?"
"The fact that you are, as I have said, un-describable beauty wise should by no means make you think you are above us!" Theseus cried. "The fact that you and your friend decided to marry a daughter of Zeus is no reason to abduct me in such a manner! How dare you feel so free with the Princess of Sparta! "As I am Prince of Athens, I feel quite free, to be free around you," He snapped. I raised my hand to slap him, but he caught my wrist, and twisted it painfully behind my back. With his other hand, he caressed my cheek, and muttered foolish, disgusting words in my ear. I was pinned to him, and I could not move. I was filled with terror at what would come next. I had heard the palace women telling stories... But at that moment, he grunted behind me, and fell forward on top of me. But instead of furthering his attempts upon me, he lay still, and motionless. I felt a warm substance pool over my body, and a sickly sweet scent I did not recognize filled the air. I screamed. "Sister!" A familiar voice called from above me. Theseus was dragged off of my body, and only then could I see that he had been slain. Blood covered the front of my body; Theseus's blood. But more than anything, I noted the face of dear Castor above me, eyes tender and worried. "Are you alright?" He asked. He knelt down beside me, and it was then that I began to cry, into his shoulder. "Now I am," I snuffled. "Did he... get you?" Pollux asked as he plopped down on the other side of me. I did not have to asked what he meant with that. "No, I whispered. But he was about to... how did you?" "We were able to track that bloody bastard. Fool for even thinking he could get away with something like this!" Pollux exclaimed vehemently. I looked over at Theseus's corpse, and my stomach lurched. To think that seconds ago that very man had been talking with me, touching me, and now... only the Gods knew where he was. "Lets go," I whispered. Gently, Castor picked me up in his arms, and carried me over to his waiting horse. Pollux mounted a second, and together, the three of us returned home.
I never really thought of Theseus after that. The experience had been so new, so horrible that I tried to forget it. But if there was one thing that I learned from this, it was what my beauty did to men. It drove them crazy, infatuated them, like it would Paris, and all the other brave men of Troy.
My mother, Leda, saw all this and was not pleased. "Helen, you are becoming vain," She told me one day as we sat next to the pond next to which Clytemnestra and I had talked of our futures three years ago.
"I am not mother!" Was my natural response. But even then, I knew she was right. My favorite pastimes were trying on different rouges, powders, and creams. I took special delight in ordering my clothes, and in studying and learning ways to wear ones hair. Not only was I beautiful, but also I was aware of it. From a young age, I had been surrounded by flattery, ambassadors aching to please, and, recently, the first trickle of suitors had come in, composing poetry and music, all in honor of me.
Rumors had been spread, all over the known world about me. Ridiculous rumors that I was the child of Zeus sprang up. They said the Gods had marked me. My mother was very distant whenever I mentioned such things.
"Do not listen to such lies, Helen," She told me after I had made a jest of her and Zeus, "They are beneath you."
But the funny thing was, she never denied it, she was always dismissive to me whenever I mentioned it to her.
As I grew older, my beauty did not diminish, it flourished. By the time I was sixteen, hundreds of would-be suitors were being housed in the palace.
Achilles was there again, and he was the most persistent of all my admirers. Once I had been annoyed by his cockiness, but now I took it with humor, and flirted with him just as I did with all the lovers. Many admirable men came to see me... if I had been anyone but myself I think I would have gone crazy, having to pick just one of these good men for myself. But their obsession with me did not serve to make me giddy, it made me feel above them. After all, what other woman had received this much attention?
I sat in front of my mirror, arranging my hair when a thick arm flung itself around my waist, and a hand was clamped over my mouth. I tried to scream, but the hand made that impossible. I kicked with all my might, but I might as well have been striking rock, for I was not gratified with even a grunt. My captor bound my hands and feet, and gagged my mouth with a rough piece of linen. Clutching me to him, he leapt out of the window, and we landed on the grassy patch just outside of my window. He was not young, I could tell, but he had such strength that even Achilles would have been impressed. I was flung over the back of a waiting horse, and then away we rode, away from my home, and away from Sparta.
I lost track of the days and nights, and my soul feeling was fear. We never stopped riding, until, one day we stopped by a small brook. He untied my feet, and undid the gag, but left my hands bound.
"Who are you?" I whispered, not sure whether I wanted to know the answer.
The man turned towards me, and sat down on the ground, next to me. "I am Theseus."
I had heard tales of this man; he was the Prince of Athens! And he had defeated the Minotaur. I find that, at least, ironic now, as the Minotaur was a child of Zeus. "What do you want?" I asked in a timid voice.
A smile flashed across Theseus's face, and disappeared before I could really take notice. "You are beautiful...more beautiful than anybody I have ever yet laid eyes upon."
I smiled, my usual response to such flattery. Before remembering where I was. "What do you want?" I again asked. But this time it was more of a demand rather than a question. "Well, Helen, they say you are a child of Zeus. At first I did not believe it could be true... But after I laid eyes upon you, in your father's court... I believe the rumors. I am sure you have been told you are beautiful, and while that is true, your kind of beauty is no ordinary thing. It is... otherworldly, and-"
"The point of this is?" I demanded. I refused to be taken in by such unabashed flattery. As though I, Helen, could be the sun of the mighty Zeus! "Pirithous, my good friend, and I decided long ago to each marry one of Zeus's daughter. I desire you, Helen. If I had stayed behind in Sparta, I would have been anonymous suitor. I see how you treat your admirers. You act interested in them, but that interest is only skin deep. You treat all of us the same... Smiling and laughing at our praise, but at the same time, you are detached." "If I am so 'otherworldly' as you say, should I not be detached? And, if I am the daughter of Zeus, which, I am afraid you are mistaken in believing, why should I settle for mere mortals such as yourself? I have been told the Gods favor me, have marked me out, so why should I not wait for a God like myself to love?" Theseus stared at me. "Gods, woman!" he said, throwing his arms up in the air exasperatedly, "Have they also informed you of your insatiable vanity?" "First," I said, now quite angry, "you say I am the child of the Gods. Then, when I suggest that if this be so, I should wait for somebody who should be deserving, you call me vain?"
"The fact that you are, as I have said, un-describable beauty wise should by no means make you think you are above us!" Theseus cried. "The fact that you and your friend decided to marry a daughter of Zeus is no reason to abduct me in such a manner! How dare you feel so free with the Princess of Sparta! "As I am Prince of Athens, I feel quite free, to be free around you," He snapped. I raised my hand to slap him, but he caught my wrist, and twisted it painfully behind my back. With his other hand, he caressed my cheek, and muttered foolish, disgusting words in my ear. I was pinned to him, and I could not move. I was filled with terror at what would come next. I had heard the palace women telling stories... But at that moment, he grunted behind me, and fell forward on top of me. But instead of furthering his attempts upon me, he lay still, and motionless. I felt a warm substance pool over my body, and a sickly sweet scent I did not recognize filled the air. I screamed. "Sister!" A familiar voice called from above me. Theseus was dragged off of my body, and only then could I see that he had been slain. Blood covered the front of my body; Theseus's blood. But more than anything, I noted the face of dear Castor above me, eyes tender and worried. "Are you alright?" He asked. He knelt down beside me, and it was then that I began to cry, into his shoulder. "Now I am," I snuffled. "Did he... get you?" Pollux asked as he plopped down on the other side of me. I did not have to asked what he meant with that. "No, I whispered. But he was about to... how did you?" "We were able to track that bloody bastard. Fool for even thinking he could get away with something like this!" Pollux exclaimed vehemently. I looked over at Theseus's corpse, and my stomach lurched. To think that seconds ago that very man had been talking with me, touching me, and now... only the Gods knew where he was. "Lets go," I whispered. Gently, Castor picked me up in his arms, and carried me over to his waiting horse. Pollux mounted a second, and together, the three of us returned home.
I never really thought of Theseus after that. The experience had been so new, so horrible that I tried to forget it. But if there was one thing that I learned from this, it was what my beauty did to men. It drove them crazy, infatuated them, like it would Paris, and all the other brave men of Troy.