Helen's Guilt In The Iliad

Helen’s character is balanced by personal guilt and self-preservation which together define her as a woman with her own agency and power to act. In the initial chapters of the Iliad, Helen is wracked by intense guilt and self-loathing that stems from her involvement in the conflict between the Achaians and the Trojans. Her shame is first displayed after she is called sit beside Priam and view the duel between Paris and Menelaus. When Priam asks Helen to identify the leader of the Greek forces, she takes a moment to express her remorse and mentions that she wished she had chosen “bitter death” over departure from her homeland (Iliad 3.173). Helen admits her culpability in this conflict and reveals that the extent of her shame is so great

After saving Paris from death, Aphrodite appears to Helen and requests that she lay with the prince in his bed. Helen, however, rebukes Aphrodite and suggests that goddess lay with Paris and become his “slave girl” (Iliad 3.410). Aphrodite immediately threatens Helen with death, which leads her to surrender and return to Paris (Iliad 3.417). Captured in this exchange is Helen’s boldness in the face of a goddess and her sense of self-preservation. After Helen speaks her mind, she is confronted with a choice: she can continue her contest with Aphrodite and face death, or she can capitulate and continue her life. In this moment Helen understands the value of having the gods on her side and she decides to set aside her pride for safety. When Helen enters to Paris’ bedroom, she takes the opportunity to attack him too and she suggests that he will fall to Menelaus next time (Iliad 3.435). Calmly, Paris defuses the situation and requests that she come to his side. Although this interaction lacks a death threat similar to Aphrodite’s, Helen recognizes that her options in this situation are the identical. In the event that Paris should remain her long term husband, it is in Helen’s interest to remain on favorable terms with