Page 16 - GALIET ABSENCE AND Presence's Loom: Helen and Penelope IV

Helen’s mythic presence in her war-weavings sparks; yet, her true presence, as being, as dwelling, turns dark: its clarity is denied, for who shall know what her fine threads weave not; or what form the fine strings of her heart endure; or where her sincere sympathies in spirit dwell 3⁄4 whether at Sparta or Troy 3⁄4 at grief’s door, or at death’s door?14
Slippery Queen Helen dwells in the twilights of Troy and Sparta, presence and absence, ever morally distant from Penelope’s faithful sympathies to her husband; for how Queen Penelope abhors the idea of dwelling in her suitors’ estranged isle or nauseous halls fearing the oblivion of exile, its oppressive weight while she weaves by day; and how she adores her lovely Ithacan
14 There is much ambiguity in Helen’s character in the Iliad. One never knows if she is victim, or if she willingly eloped. Hence, we are uncertain where her being truly dwells, whether in word (Sparta and Menelaus), or in deed (Troy and Paris), or sincere melancholy, or death wish. Helen often wishes she had not forsaken her marriage, Sparta, daughter and friends (Il., 3.170-175; 24.888- 912), and feels “sweet longings/after her husband...her city and parents,” (Il.,3.139-140) before she appears at the Wall. She, too, belittles Paris for his cowardice, and lack of valour and shame (Il., 6.350-358), insinuating her loyalty to Menelaus, her family, and Sparta. Though Helen often feels remorse, shame, and reproaches herself, and wishes she had not been born, or had died (Il., 3.241-242; 6.343-349; 24.888-912), she, as war-prize (geras) and spectator at the Wall, witnesses the covenant made for her own self-worth, and sees Paris’ disgrace, which is also her disgrace, yet, in deed, she must dispense with shame, and return to the bed of shameless Paris, compelled by Aphrodite. Though Agamemnon announced that victory is with Menelaus (Il.,3.457), she does not volunteer to depart, she remains, and never attempts to commit suicide. All things suggest her ambivalence: she is never fully present, or absent, in her sentiments towards Troy or Paris, or Sparta and Menelaus, or her genuine melancholy, or death wish, as mourning Penelope, whose primordial loyalty and presence dwells with Odysseus, Telemachus’ and Ithaca, thus she devices stratagems, and for the most part, rather than show herself, as Helen at the Wall does, Penelope hides herself from the suitors (Ody., 15.514-541. 313). As well, Penelope’s quandary to respect Odysseus’ bed, or to accept a new suitor (Ody.,16.60-92. 319) arises solely from the suitors’ laying waste Telemachus’ inheritance (Ody., 16.124-151. 323).
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