Disclaimer: I am not an ancient Greek scholar. For the full disclaimer, Read here.
“Sir,” answered Helen, “father of my husband, dear and reverend in my eyes, would that I had chosen death rather than to have come here with your son, far from my bridal chamber, my friends, my darling daughter, and all the companions of my girlhood. But it was not to be, and my lot is one of tears and sorrow.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
Book 3 Summary
The Achaeans march up to the gates of Troy and prepare for battle. Paris, son of Troy’s king Priam and brother to Troy’s champion Hector, taunts the Achaeans until Menelaus scares him back behind Trojan lines.
Hector berates Paris not only for his cowardice but also for his responsibility in bringing the war to begin with. Paris responds chastised and offers a way to end the war: Paris and Menelaus have a duel. The winner will get Helen and her wealth—Helen being Menelaus’ wife whom Paris seduced and took back to Troy sparking the war between the Trojans and the Achaeans nine years before.
Hector is relieved to hear this and immediately calls for a truce with Agamemnon, explaining the duel and the terms. Agamemnon and Menelaus agree to the truce. Meanwhile, Priam is watching both armies from inside Troy. Helen makes an appearance before Priam and points out the most accomplished fighters in the Achaean army to him and the elders of the city. Menelaus requests that Priam make an appearance and bear witness to the conditions of the duel and the swearing of oaths. Priam does so, but does not stay for the duel because he can’t bear to watch it.
During the duel, it is clear Menelaus is the better fighter. Paris cannot even pierce Menelaus’ shield, yet Menelaus almost kills Paris twice, only failing because of direct intervention from Aphrodite who favors Paris. After attempting to slay Paris a third time, Aphrodite whisks Paris away back to his bedchamber and coerces Helen to join him in bed.
Agamemnon declares that Menelaus is the winner of the duel since it appears that Paris ran away.
For a list of the major characters, with Greek and Latin names, go here.
Helen Regrets Her Decision?
I picked the quote because it comes from Helen herself—the very woman for whom this whole war is being fought. She appears to regret her decision to have an affair with Paris, leave her home in Sparta, and go to Troy.
The question is why she regrets her decision. Is it because it led to war? Is it because Paris wasn’t all he was chalked up to be? Or is she genuinely remorseful for her decision? Notice that she doesn’t say she misses Menelaus (unless her reference to the bridal chamber is saying just that), just her friends and her daughter.
There’s a scene in the Odyssey where Menelaus and Helen appear together, years after the war. The way they interact with each other makes you wonder. And then you think about the fact that Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, is her sister—Clytemnestra who did some heinous things after the war (you find out about it in the Odyssey and is fleshed out more in Aeschylus’ Oresteia if you don’t already know this story). Again, it makes you wonder.
The only thing that contradicts this is that after the messenger goddess Iris talk to her and told her to go outside and watch the armies gather she “yearned after her former husband, her city, and her parents.” However, was this yearning genuine or was it the result of Iris’ influence because the goddess wanted Helen to go outside?
Everyone Hates Paris... So Why Isn't He Held Accountable?
There was one thing that bugged me as I read through the Iliad—something that I personally didn’t find an answer for: Why didn’t the Trojans just punish Paris, give Helen back to Menelaus, make peace, and have everyone go their merry way? Here’s a handful of quotes to show you why I thought this:
1) This is Hector to Paris:
“Evil-hearted Paris, fair to see, but woman-mad, and false of tongue, would that you had never been born, or that you had died unwed… Did you not from your afar country carry off a lovely woman wedded among a people of warriors—to bring sorrow upon your father, your city, and your whole country, but joy to your enemies, and hang-dog shamefacedness to yourself?… The Trojans are a weak-kneed people, or ere this you would have had a shirt of stones for the wrongs you have done them.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
Here we get a fuller picture of what happened that led to the war: Paris took Helen, a married woman, back to Troy with him. Hector is obviously disgusted at Paris for what he did. It’s also worth mentioning that as soon as Paris suggested he duel Menelaus for Helen, Hector immediately and gladly jumped at the opportunity.
Side note: I think that turn of phrase, “you would have had a shirt of stones,” is great. Very colorful. I read this in the Augustus Murray translation (the translation used for the Loeb Classical Library) and it says “donned a coat of stone” which I think is even better. The Murray translation is a bit more difficult than the Butler translation if you’re not used to older English, but it keeps all the Greek names so it’s a great alternative translation in the public domain.
2) This is the Trojan elders speaking about Helen:
“Small wonder that Trojans and Achaeans should endure so much and so long, for the sake of a woman so marvellously and divinely lovely. Still, fair though she be, let them take her and go, or she will breed sorrow for us and for our children after us.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
Helen was considered the most beautiful woman in the world at that time. Notice that the elders endorse the idea of the Achaeans just taking Helen back and sending them on their way.
3) This is King Priam to Helen:
“I lay no blame upon you, it is the gods, not you who are to blame. It is they that have brought about this terrible war with the Achaeans.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
I can’t decide if Priam is speaking out of wisdom because he knows how the gods are or if he’s making excuses. He’s the king. Can’t he just declare that Helen is to go back to Menelaus and Paris will be punished for his actions?
4) The Trojan army about Paris after he was whisked away by Aphrodite in the middle of his duel with Menelaus:
If they had seen him they were in no mind to hide him, for they all of them hated him as they did death itself.
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
There is no love lost between the Trojan army and Paris.
5) There’s even hints that the Achaeans would have accepted some sort of appeasement as long as it included returning Helen back. Not only did Agamemnon and Menelaus agree to the duel, Menelaus says this:
“I deem that the parting of Achaeans and Trojans is at hand, as well it may be, seeing how much have suffered for my quarrel with Alexandrus and the wrong he did me. Let him who shall die, die, and let the others fight no more.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
Even Menelaus, the one who was directly affected by Paris’ actions, is willing to let this all go as long as he has a chance to get revenge and get Helen back. Just like Achilles, he doesn’t hold any particular grudge against the Trojans. It’s just Paris he’s after.
So this is the picture: Hector despises Paris and wants the war to end, the Trojan elders agree Helen should be returned, King Priam doesn’t want this war, the Trojan army despises Paris and are unwilling to protect him, Helen regrets her decision, and even Menelaus is willing to end the war as long as Helen is returned to him and Paris pays for his actions. Why is the war still happening?! I can only think of three reasons:
For some reason, it’s up to Paris, and he doesn’t want to give up Helen. In fact, he is unrepentant for what he did. He doesn’t care if there’s a war as long as he gets to bed Helen and have her around his arm.
King Priam is so willing to protect his son Paris, he would even let his people go to war due to Paris’ terrible actions. After King Priam gives his blessing to the duel between Paris and Menelaus, he immediately leaves because he can’t stand the sight of Paris involved in a life or death battle.
No one is thinking straight because this war is something the gods want. More on this in the next section.
The Divine Conspiracy, Part 2
Let’s recap the most significant instances of divine intervention in relation to the war so far:
Hera inspires the Achaean leaders to hold a council to see why the army is being struck with a plague that is wiping it out
Hera and Athena prevent Achilles from striking down Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean army, after Agamemnon humiliates him
Athena intervenes to keep the Achaean army from packing up and leaving the shores of Troy, even going so far as to change their psychology so they no longer miss home but want war
The omen by Zeus and the prophecy that Troy will be sacked in the tenth year of the war
The deceptive dream Zeus sends to Agamemnon to spur him to attack Troy prematurely
We now have another significant instance of divine intervention in Book 3, this time on the Trojan side: Aphrodite prevents Paris from dying twice in his duel with Menelaus. When Menelaus is about to kill him for a third time, Aphrodite whisks Paris away back to his bedchamber and then coerces Helen to join Paris and sleep with him. This causes Menelaus to win the duel by default.
We learn for the first time in Book 3 that there are Olympians on the side of the Trojans and Aphrodite is one of them (although it becomes clearer later on that Apollo is on the Trojans’ side, it’s not clear in Book 1 because he was just responding to one of his priests being spurned by Agamemnon). If you know the full story of how Paris came to seduce Helen, you’ll know why Aphrodite favors and protects him.
Here’s the thing though. Since Menelaus won the duel by default, doesn’t that mean the war is over? Everyone can go home? As we’ll learn in Book 4, that’s not the case. In fact, a very blatant divine intervention will cause the war to erupt again.
So, my question is: even though there are gods who favor the Achaeans and gods who favor the Trojans, are the gods actually conspiring together to make sure this war happens? Either for petty reasons or to make sure fate runs its course? The Achaeans and the Trojans were inches away from having peace between the two. And as well learn later on, it’s going to be divine intervention that will be the catalyst for Achilles returning to the battlefield.
A Quick Word About Oaths
“The oaths of Jove must not be transgressed or taken in vain.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
“Jove, most great and glorious, and ye other everlasting gods, grant that the brains of them who shall first sin against their oaths—of them and their children—may be shed upon the ground even as this wine, and let their wives become the slaves of strangers.”
Iliad, Book 3; Samuel Butler translation
Oaths appear to be very serious affairs—so serious, that a man’s wife and children will suffer if an oath is broken. Keep these statements in mind as you read Book 4.
That’s all for Book 3 of the Iliad.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
The booklist I am going through can be found here.
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Thumbnail: Helen Watching Menelaus and Paris Fight From the Walls of Troy by Fortunino Matania. Created 1929.