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Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! Greek & Roman Mythology Retold

CXLVIII: The Most Infamous Woman of Greek Myth, Helen of Sparta (Part 1)

Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! Greek & Roman Mythology Retold

Liv Albert

History, Comedy, Arts

4.85.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Helen is simultaneously the most well known mortal of myth and a complete and utter enigma. What do we actually know about her, and the choices she did and did not make that lead to the Trojan War?

CW/TW: far too many Greek myths involve assault. Given it's fiction, and typically involves gods and/or monsters, I'm not as deferential as I would be were I referencing the real thing.

Sources: Helen: Goddess, Princess, Whore by Bettany Hughes; Theoi.com; The Iliad, translated by Samuel Butler; Early Greek Myths by Timothy Gantz; Sappho's Lyre by Diane Rayor.

Attributions and licensing information for music used in the podcast can be found here: mythsbaby.com/sources-attributions.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Oh, hello. You caught me practicing on my new slide whistle. You see, Speck Savers have

0:15.5

asked me to tell you about something very exciting. And as it's radio, I thought, well,

0:19.8

it's always best to use sound, isn't it? So here it goes. Well, prices everywhere are

0:24.8

going. At Speck Savers, they're coming. Thank you. With glasses now from just 15 pounds,

0:31.8

you're better off with Speck Savers. I could have just said that, I suppose.

0:35.5

Includes standard single-vision lenses asking store for details.

0:38.6

Helen's heart yearned after her former husband, her city and her parents. She threw a white

0:56.0

mantle over her head and hurried from her room, weeping as she went. Not alone, but attended by

1:02.2

two of her handmaids, Yitra, daughter of Pithius, and Climini. And straight way, they were at the

1:09.4

Skane Gates. The two sages, Ucala-Gon and Antenora elders of the people were seated by the Skane

1:17.4

Gates, with Priyam, Pantus, Thymites, Lampus, Cliteus, and Hicca-Tion of the race of Mars.

1:26.0

These were two old to fight, but they were fluent orators and sat on the tower like Kikali's

1:31.6

that chirp, delicately from the boughs of some high tree in a wood. When they saw Helen coming towards

1:38.3

the tower, they said softly to one another, small wonder that Trojans and Akians should endure so much

1:45.8

and so long, for the sake of a woman so marvelously and divinely lovely. Still, fair though she be,

1:53.6

let them take her and go, or she will breed sorrow for us and for our children after us.

2:24.5

Hi, hello, welcome. This is Let's Talk About Myths, baby. And I am that host of yours,

2:32.3

the woman who likes to rant, live. Fucking Helen, you guys. I am thrilled to be doing this deep

2:39.6

dive into that, oh, so infamous woman of Greek mythology. She's one of those people that is so

2:45.9

utterly fascinating. She herself is enigmatic as fuck, mysterious and baffling, and yet the things

2:52.2

we know about her are often so straightforward. To the point, she's the face that launched a

2:57.6

thousand ships. She's the woman whose beauty was enough to start a 10-year war that saw the

...

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