Page 11 - GALIET BEAUTY´S LURE: WAR Helen of Troy and Margareta of Germany IV

Introduction. The quest for ideal feminine beauty begins in the Iliad, and becomes pivotal in Grecian, Platonic and humanity’s thought, whether in its material or idealized form. The memorable verse of the Iliad’s Book 3 narrates how, upon seeing glorious Helen promenade along the Wall, King Priam and the chief elders of Troy, seated at Troy’s famed tower, murmur to one another:
“Surely there is no blame on Trojans and strong-greaved Achaeans if for a long time they suffer hardship for a woman like this one. Terrible is the likeness of her face to immortal goddesses.
Still, though she be such, let her go away in the ships, lest
She be left behind, a grief to us and to our children.”4
The mesmerized wise elders apprehend Helen’s dazzling beauty immediately, in its pleasures and dangers. Indeed, neither Achaeans nor Trojans, say the elders, are to be blamed for their long-lasting sufferings, for such is the overwhelming power of Helen’s terrible, yet sublime facial beauty, ever akin “to immortal goddesses.” To gaze at a goddess is dangerous. When Actaeon gazes at naked Artemis while bathing with her nymphs, she turns him into a stag, pursued and torn to pieces by his own hounds.5 Helen’s beauty also has this negative spell. The elders rapidly foresee how her terrible sublime beauty can
4 Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951. 3.155-160.
5 Although there are other stories that commemorate Actaeon’s punishment, such as Artemis throwing a deerskin over Actaeon to have him chased and torn to pieces by his own hounds, this is the most familiar one. March, Jenny. “Actaeon.” Cassell Dictionary of Classical Mythology. UK: Cassell, 1998. 17.
· 11 ·