Ancient Greece: How Three Women Shaped Ancient Greek World
The Women Of Ancient Greece: How Three Women Shaped The Ancient Greek World
Women. In the ancient world of the Greeks, women often slipped through the cracks. Though, there were women that were known for their fierceness. From the women of Sparta who were so hard on their sons, they would throw roof tiles at their heads if they defected to the queens who were so beautiful that wars were started, Greece was certainly an interesting place back in the day.
In this article, we will explore the lives of three women and how they shaped the Ancient Greek world. The three candidates are the infamous Helen of Troy, Gorgo of Sparta and Phryne of Thespiae. First stop, Sparta were we talk about Helen’s life before the Trojan War.
3. Helen of Sparta/Troy
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Although, Helen was not mother of the year. Far from it. In fact, Hermione was Helen’s daughter with Menelaus, her first husband. Hermione was raised by her aunt Clytemnestra after Helen left with Paris and Menelaus was off trying to bring his wife back to Sparta. Conversely, other versions of the Helen of Troy story says that Hermione was Helen’s only child while others say she had other children to other men.
Speaking of children with other men, some versions of the story of Helen say she was raped by Theseus and bore him a daughter named Iphigenia. Also, while she was with Paris, Helen was said to have had three sons, Bunomus, Corythus and Idaeus whom all died when the roof of their family house caved in. One version says Helen bore Paris a son named Aganus.
When looking at the information before us, it is easy to see that Helen, despite her beauty wasn’t as perfect as she seemed. She allowed her looks to rule who she was and that was what caused such an upset to Sparta’s civilisation. When Paris took her back to Troy, she didn’t expect her already bound husband, Menelaus to go running after her. The lesson that the Greek probably should have taken from Helen was the idea that, just because you’re stunningly beautiful, doesn’t mean you allow men to kidnap you and take you home
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