In Greek mythology, Helen of back to Troy was the most beautiful woman in Greece and the major cause of the Trojan War. Helen was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, whom Zeus raped after taking the guise of a swan. Helen's sister was Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon; her brothers were the Dioscuri, or Divine Twins, Castor and Pollux. While still a girl, Helen was carried off by the Athenian hero Theseus, but the Dioscuri rescued her unharmed. Later, she was sought after by almost every prince in Greece, but she finally married Menelaus, king of Sparta, who was the richest of the suitors.
Helen and Menelaus had one child, a daughter, Hermione. Their marriage was threatened when Paris, a Trojan prince, became enamored of Helen. Taking advantage of Menelaus' absence from the palace, Paris abducted Helen and left for Troy. Immediately, a great expedition against Troy was organized under the leadership of Agamemnon, Menelaus's brother, and ten years of bitter fighting ensued. After Troy's defeat, Helen was restored to her husband.
There are many variations to the story of Helen owing to the fact that in earlier times she was a cult divinity and the focus of many local tales. She is often considered to be the daughter of Nemesis, since she caused such misfortune. The 7th-century poet Stresichorus popularized a version that Helen never went to Troy but was detained in Egypt: the Helen who went to Troy was not a real person but merely a phantom; Menelaus then reunited with his wife in Egypt after the Greek victory at Troy. Euripides based his play Helen on this story.
In old age Helen was said to have been exiled by her stepsons to Rhodes. There, Queen Polyxo hanged Helen in revenge for the death of her husband, Tlepolemus, who lost his life in the Trojan War.
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