"Loving me kills people, destroys families, causes such grief you cannot imagine! " Yes. This quote came from none other but a woman whose face is worth a million souls... The seductress who led the many men to many grievous moments... The walking goddess of Sparta...The mistress of Troy... The woman named Helen.
Running along the paths of a mountain, Paris, an adopted son of shepherd but royal by blood, entered a cave where the three great goddesses appeared before him, competing for the title, "Kallista" or the fairest of all. Aphrodite, who was one step ahead of Hera and Athena, had won the alias merely by promising Paris the most beautiful woman walking on Earth. With such tempting condition, Paris could not resist and accepted the offer.
As each chapter unfolded, Paris returned to Troy (His supposedly original country) and was immediately announced prince of Troy right after his battle against great men of the said land, including his brother Hector. With the return of this unwanted man, Troy's misery began. Paris, as son of King Priam, became involved in many royal engagements and affairs including the attending of Menelaus and Helen's engagement, a sign of alliance with Sparta.
During the engagement of Menelaus and Helen, Paris caught a glance of the naked Helen; Helen, on the other hand, looked at the Adonis-like Paris with such burning passion that no man's heart could NEVER melt. After their ever first meeting, they kissed and eloped to Troy. So, obviously, Menelaus, as well as his wrathful brother Agamemnon, reacted and immediately went to Troy to claim back Helen and of course to gain more glories. To assure their victory over Troy, the two kings allied with Odysseus, king of Ithaca and the mighty and blood-thirsty Achilles.
For ten years, Troy suffered just because of a woman. Many men risked their lives and souls of the innocent were taken away, blood of the precious children were spilled and the sweet sounds of Trojan women were replaced by dirges...and the golden walls of Troy fell down...just because of Helen and her selfish lover, Paris.
The ten-year battle was now over and the victors were Menelaus and his men, brought with them their golden Aphrodite, Helen. The warriors finally said there good byes to each other and walked and separate ways. Each man wiped off bloods from his face, removed the breast plate, unequipped his sword, turned off the warrior mode and turned on the father-husband mode and readied his lips and arms to finally kiss intimately his wife and hug his children tightly. All men from the great Trojan battle did the same thing...All except Odysseus and his men who still had to face another ten years of fighting; this time, it is a different story.
As Odysseus was overwhelmed by his full of unexplained and mixed feelings, he finally let out all the stress and joy inside by shouting and claiming that he was responsible for their victory without thanking the gods which angered Poseidon, who had aided Odysseus and his men, and put a curse upon the wise Odysseus and his men. Within ten years, his anticipation and joy for finally seeing, for the first time, his son, Telemachus and wife, Penelope, were all hanged because he still had to fight a three-headed monster, blind a cyclops, face the tormented souls in Hades' cradle, make love with two beautiful goddesses and finally kill the abusive suitors of Penelope. Meanwhile, in Ithaca, the treasures of Odysseus were splurged for Penelope'suitors' growling stomachs. In spite of all the suitors and hearsays of Odysseus' death, Penelope remained loyal to her husband. As the men became more abusive as each chapter unfolded, Telemachus grew impatient for his father's homecoming; so he sailed off to Sparta to find aid from Menelaus who turned him down in finding his father. As Telemachus returned, Odysseus too had finally came home. With this, Odysseus finally for the first time hugged his son and avenged his home and his wife against the abusive suitors. Odysseus now finally cuddled on his bed and claimed his throne...All these were accomplished by the wise King of Ithaca with the aid of Athena.
The battlefield finally in both stories closed. The grounds were stained by blood, scattered with broken bones and the air was filled with the stench of rotting flesh... How could men keep fighting despite knowing the outcome if they had been defeated? What made them strong and determined to finish the battle? The answer? It is the women. You see, battles would not be held if it were not for us women; these brutal warriors seemed so cruel and violent but deep inside they were only driven by love. For instance, Trojan men would not risk their lives if it were not for Paris' orders to defend his love for Helen, Menelaus would not be raged if his wife was not stolen away by Paris and Odysseus would not endure another ten years of challenges and could have started a new life elsewhere if it was not for his strong desires to be with his Penelope again. Menelaus, Paris and Odysseus may appeared brutal and blood-thirsty but all these men inside had just been conquered by their love... their love for the mistress of Troy and the queen of Ithaca, Helen and Penelope.
Both women played the most important roles in the story: the subject of the plots and the poisons of men. However similar in their roles, Helen and Penelope differ in many ways. Well, okay, Helen was faaaaaaar more beautiful than Penelope, but Penelope still exceeded Helen in SO MANY WAYS. If I were asked to choose from one of them and be the one chosen for one day, I would say that I'd rather be beautiful inside meaning I'd rather be Penelope. Well, yes I would want to have a face that captures the eyes of everyone, I would laugh out loud at women who would pop their eyes out as they stare at me with envy...Yes, it is every girl's dream, to be drop-dead gorgeous and to be stolen away from an ugly loser boyfriend by an Adonis-like one and to be the center of attraction. But up to the point where men have to risk their lives just to have me? Where the souls of the people would be slaughtered? Where I would bring devastation to a place so serene? Where my Adonis have to leave my side and risk his life? Absolutely, NO. I would rather spend my days weaving, ignoring all my suitors, patiently waiting for my love one to come home, ignore the hearsays of people about my love one's death, stand firm with my judgments and be a loyal and virtuous wife... I would rather be a rightful and willful woman than some seductress who can't even control her feelings for someone else despite the fact that she's married. Yes, both women may have been loyal to their feelings and have become good lovers but their is still a big distinction between the two woman... PENELOPE'S BRAIN WAS FUNCTIONING WELL WHILE HELEN'S WAS NOT. Helen may had the looks, was a mortal Aphrodite, was charming but she was not cut out to be a rightful and matured woman; Penelope, on the other hand, had simple and dull face but inside is a shining beauty, a woman who has dignity, brains, and all aspects that can be pointed to a matured woman. Penelope knew also how to ignore men and test them for a veeeeeery long period of time, but Helen could not; just after a few seconds of staring at Paris' eyes, she immediately gave herself up without testing if Paris truly loved him or not, and it took Penelope to make a decision of supposedly marrying one of her suitors (but thankfully, Odysseus had arrived before this hapened, I'm just stating facts so everyone could see how a girl is supposed to act when she meets suitors of great standing and looks). Moreover, if we place these two women in reality, Helen would be accused of adultery and be labeled "malandi" and Penelope would be called loyal.
Girls remember, outside beauty fades but the inside dos not. God does not judge women like how it is in a beauty pageant; He does not judge by your looks but by how faithful you have been to His commandments and by how you present yourself in front of Him. Would you appear like Helen who had all the looks but had acts that displease His eyes or would you be like Penelope who had simple looks but had worth-rewarding loyalty, patience, virtue and judgments? I hope no girl would choose outside beauty over inside ones.
very good.
TumugonBurahin