‘Third cheerleader from the left’: from Homer’s Helen to Helen of Troy

摘要

The supreme beauty of Helen of Troy makes her the most dangerous of all women. Most Greek authors react to the threat she poses by limiting her power, often in the guise of defending her. Thus in the Iliad, Achilles’ story displaces hers, and male characters excuse her from blame by denying her agency. Yet, she remains a real cause of the war and an emblem of the heroic enterprise as such. Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy (2004), which draws on the Iliad, places a new emphasis on heterosexual pair-bonding. Yet, the film extends the Greek project of disempowering Helen in the guise of defending her. The movie does not celebrate the dangerous power of female beauty but denies it by means of an array of strategies, some of which echo ancient texts and some of which are specific to contemporary ideology and the cinematic medium. Helen is presented as a hapless victim, cast as an adolescent everygirl and contrasted with the feisty Briseis. Finally, her beauty is displaced in favour of the star power and charisma of Brad Pitt’s spectacular body. Once again, Helen is displaced by Achilles.