Helen of Troy

Reading notes

• The Odes §1.15 Helen

  Wife of Menelaus, whose abduction by Paris brings on the Trojan War.

• The Odes §3.3 Spartan

  Helen, the 'Spartan adulteress' whose 'infamous guest' was Paris.

• The Odes §4.9 Helen

  Not the only woman to burn for an adulterer's finery — many loved before her.

• The Epodes §17 infamous Helen

  Helen of Troy, whose brothers the Dioscuri avenged a poet's slander by blinding him, then restored his sight when he recanted.

• The Satires §1.3 before Helen

  Helen of Troy, whose abduction launched the Trojan War; Horace makes her the first named case of desire causing war, noting that earlier such deaths went unrecorded.